Beauvillage Chronicles:Episode 3:The Great Mystery
by HarpieKing07
Summary: An incredible mystery novel was found in Beauvillage. April and her friends immediatly fall in love with it but the real mystery is - Who wrote it? Lily however is hot on the trail of a real Beauvillage mystery - one that was unsolved for 20 years.
1. Chapter 1

**Beauvillage Chronicles**

**Episode 3: The Great Mystery**

**Chapter 1**

„Oh great green spirit of the forest, renew this great land."

A chant sounded at the edge of the Beauvillage forest, where a great number of people gathered to witness something... well... unusual.

A large ceremonial circle was made infront of the forest in order for the ritual, which Mom, Pop, Buba and Bee prepared, once more using the _Wizard´s guide to Green sorcery_ book they found years ago. Due to the not so fruitfull harvest Beauvillage experienced this year, they took it upon themselfs to try and do something about it and thought that the _Soil renewal ritual_ was the best way to do it. Mom and Bee both dressed in pure white druidess outfits were spreading ashes around the cirlce as Pop and Ralph dressed in Gaulish warrior robes with horned helmets, played on the ceremonial drums. Lola and Billy were there too, dressed in ceremonial robes of their own as they chanted half-heartedly along with two people, who no one would think possible of participating in something like this.

"I still can´t believe you talked me into this."grumbled Titus Hubbub, dressed in Gaulish ceremonial robes as well, and now glaring his wife.

"Oh hush Titus. We can´t afford another harvest like this. You know the prices for vegetables and fruits are going up. Besides, it _is_ kind of fun."she whispered, giggling at the site of the two women clapping and chanting.

"I can´t wait for the _green dance_ to start."she said happily and Titus sputtered instantly.

"You can´t be serious!"

As Titus was hushed and being once more reminded in the importaince of the ritual, the two young teens observed them.

"Your Dad is not the only one, who can´t believe he got talked into this."whispered Lola to Billy, who sighed.

"Once my Mom got in the mix, not even _I_ could´ve refused."

Lola let out a low growl.

"Well _someone_ did."

Billy couldn´t help but chuckle.

"Smart guy that brother of yours."

Lola rolled her eyes.

"Tell me about it. The little twerp split as soon as he got wind what was about to go down. He´s probably taking refuge in the Hidehole for good measure so no one finds him."she growled.

"Speaking of which, where is our other participant. With all the enthusiasm _he_ had for the idea, I didn´t expect him to be late."wondered Billy and his girlfriend only shrugged.

"Who knows, perhaps he´s found something better to entertain him. We have all the public embarrassment we need even without him."

Indeed many of the people young or old in the crowd were barely holding in their laughs. Some of the young ones were looking curiously and some of the those, who were around their thirties or older looked oddly reminiscent. Lola and Billy chaught a few of their words.

"Well _this_ sure is a blast from the past."

"Tell me about it. I still remember that ritual thing from when I was a kid."

"What are you talking about Dad?"asked one of the small kids.

"Well, I haven´t seen a thing like this done in Beauvillage, since I was your age, son."he replied.

"Yeah brings back memories of the old Bunglewood era."

This comment drew much curiosity from some of the younger ones of Beauvillage. Most however were paying attention to what they had in their sights. Curious looks were present in half of the cases, with looks of ridicule being the other half. Mia was standing there with April, Chloe, Emily, Oliver, Liam and several other classmates from both Chichi´s and Lola´s class, even Mr Philips,Mrs Starchy and some of the professors were present. When realizing this, Lola would´ve liked nothing more than sink in the ground, never to resurface again.

"How utterly idiotic. Why can´t these people act their own age?"remarked Mia glaring at the ceremonial circle.

"What d´you expect Mia? Its the _Tofus_ afterall."remarked Cherie smirking at Lola, who returned her an icy glare.

"Well, its interesting in the very least."said Oliver, who was clearly conflicted about what to think.

"You can´t be serious, Oli. You actually _like_ this crazy show?"asked Mia amazed as Oliver watched another chant followed by clapping.

"It looks kinda cool. Y´know doing something that´s not been done in decades, perhaps even centuries."commented Chloe, watching everything with curiosity.

April smiled at her before returning the gaze back to the circle.

"It´s _certainly_ something you don´t see everyday."commented Liam smirking.

Suddenly three loud snorts were heared.

"You´re kidding."snorted Nick once more before looking at Tex and Archie.

"Get a load of those stupid costumes."chortled Archie pointing openly at them.

"But there´s people missing in there. Where are the rest of them?"asked Tex noticing Chichi´s absence.

Nick tensed and immediatly reached into his breast-pocket.

"If they are missing from there, something must be up..."he said and pulled out his blue sunglasses.

Tex and Archie nodded with a grin and reached into their pockets.

"This..."started Tex, drawing his pair of blue sunglasses.

"...looks like..."added Archie drawing up his pair as well.

"...a case for..."continued Nick.

"...the _brotherhood of the Wise_."they finished in unism as the blue sunglasses fell over their eyes.

"All right. Spread out trough the crowd, eyes open, got it?"commanded Nick and the two remaining brothers nodded before the trio split up.

The ritual was going trough another series of chants, claps and animal noises.

"...oh great spirit of the... "

"GREEN!"sounded a loud male voice, causing everyone to turn to the source.

People gasped and started to make way for the newcomer as he was making his way to the circle carrying a large sack over his shoulder.

"Sorry I´m late, guys. I had to pick up something for the ritual."said Michael Miles, dressed in druid´s white robes, a small brown bag-like pouch around his black belt, his ever-present sunglasses on his eyes and a band on his forehead which had several four-leaf clovers in it and a pure white hat on his head.

"Lucky I made it just before the dance. Before that, listen up people..."he called for attention, which was hardly neccesarry.

Everyone was staring on him since the moment he appeared.

"...for the Soil renewal ritual to reach its maximum potential you should join in the dance too."he said gesturing to the people, who looked skeptical.

"You´re right Miles. Come and join us friends and help our land heal with our dance."exclaimed Bee and the people looked from one to the other.

"But without music, there can be no dance, right? _Hit if Popsie_!"exclaimed Miles pointing to Pop who immediatly started to play in a faster jumpy pace, with Ralph joining in a few seconds later, the music sounding like a ceremonial african drum song.

The athmosphere in the air changed at once. Some of the young ones were instantly pleased, others started to jerk their heads in time with the beat, older ones were smiling, though not everyone. Mom, Buba, Beth and Bee instantly started to dance to the beat, Lola facepalmed and Billy chuckled in an unbelieving way while Titus stood there in a paralyzed way. Miles picked up the bag he brought and faced the crowd.

"Now my friends, whosoever really wants to get in touch with nature, who wants their plantlife to prosper, or who just needs pure good luck, I have the answer right here."

He delved into the sack and brought out a handfull of different amulets.

"These were made especially for these rituals, soaked for 3 weeks in the secret Green spring."

This comment drew a great number of people to Miles, young mostly. Miles gestured to the small pouch on his belt.

"Just 30 cents into the pouch and the Green spring amulet will be all yours. C´mon people, show a little respect for mother nature and help her grow some _greed_...uh I mean _grass_."he said correcting himself swiftly.

"_Aha!_"thought Nick as people started to throw coins into the pouch and grabbed the amulets before pulling them over their heads and joining in the dance. Nick swiftly brought out his cell phone, dialed the number and put it to his ear.

Not a few moments later Beauvillage policemen arrived to the scene.

"What? What´s going on here?"asked the youngest one of the six policemen that arrived and were looking at the scene infront of them.

" Mr Protector of the Law, nothing out of the ordinary is going on here."called Miles over the dancing people, moving towards the policemen.

"Oh no. We´re _toast_."exclaimed Lola over the crowd, as Titus nodded and started to chew his fingertips.

"What is this turnout supposed to be?"asked the Policeman in genuine curiosity as Miles came to them.

"We´re doing a small ceremonial ritual to help the land of this great village heal, officer. We´re expressing our utmost devotion to nature and paying our respects to it. That´s all, I swear."

The six policemen looked from one to the other.

"But we were reported a riot with illegal enrichment."said the eldest one of the group.

"_Oh please_. No enrichment here. Only if you count these amulets I´ve sold for 30 cents a piece."explained Miles gesturing to the amulets in his hand.

"What sort of amulets?"asked another one of the policemen.

Miles grinned a bit to himself before making a small show of the amulets in his hands.

"The one and only special spiritualistic amulets. Hand-made by our friends and soaked for _6 weeks_ in the holy and secret springs of the Green moutians."

The policemen looked from one to eachother completly baffled.

"But Mr Miles, I never heared of the Green moutians."said the youngest of them.

Miles made a dramatic exclamation and gestured for the policemen to create a small sircle including him.

"_Boys_. That´s _exactly_ the _point_. That´s why its a _secret_."he said whispering the last word to them, making all the air of giving out a great piece of information and for good measure placing his index finger infront of his lips.

The policemen looked at eachother once more and nodded as if getting the ultimate point. Not a second later the ritual was going as though nothing had happened with almost everyone present buying the amulets and joining in the dance in either good humor or as the younger ones of Beauvillage craved – something unussual and different.

"WHAT IN THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!"came a voice from the side of the crowd and the three brothers grinned to eachother.

Detective Wiseman had came, looking very pissed as he looked at the ceremonial circle, which was encircled by people young and old.

"Hey there, Wisey-guysey. C´mon in. Buy an amulet and join in the fun."called Miles happily and gestured to Wiseman who looked confused and angry at the same time.

"What amulet?!"he asked frustratedly.

Miles brought out a multi-coloured amulet and showed it to Wiseman.

"C´mon Wisey. It´s the latest fashion in here!"he called still moving to the beat as Wiseman looked completly perplexed at the sight of the amulet in Miles´ palm.

"Is that any good?"he asked as though he was a small child being tempted by an unknown gift.

"_Sure_ it is. Its the best. It´ll make _everything_ you dream come true."

Wiseman looked at the amulet then at Miles.

"Will it make you end behind bars?"he asked sounding like a 5 year old kid.

Miles stopped himself for a second before replying.

"No... but it´ll make cute beautyfull girls apprear right in front of you."he said nodding as though explaining the obvious.

Wiseman looked from Miles to the amulet, to the girls who were trying to catch his interest waving from the crowd. Wiseman turned instantly red.

"NO! I´d rather have _you_ locked up! **Officers! Arrest him!**"he commanded looking around to the policemen.

Looking around he let out an exasperated exclamation when finding out that the policemen were all dancing to the beat set by the ceremonial drums, all wearing the amulets sold by Miles.

"You can´t be serious! You believe in this _garbage_?!"he yelled adressing his underlings.

"Of course we _don´t_detective."said the youngest of the policemen, though his tone of voice suggested otherwise.

"But since he´s not breaking any law and since everyone is having so much fun..."explained the eldest of the six policemen.

"You´re not _supposed_ to have fun! You´re on duty!"exclaimed Wiseman, completly besides himself.

"C´mon Wisey. Let the boys have some fun. They deserve it."exclaimed Miles standing besides the policemen, all of them still dancing and immediatly nodding and cheering in agreement while continuing the dance.

Wiseman was about to retaliate when a loud, desperate sounding voice pierced trough the ceremonial drums at once calling for silence.

"HELP! THIEF! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP! THIEF!"

From the side of the street ran a man with a skymask over his head, a pink purse in his hand as he ran in top speed. And after him ran a girl with long brown hair – Lily Robins.

As the crowd gasped, Miles instantly stepped over Wiseman and as the thief ran past him he grabbed the purse by its other end, nearly bringing the thief to his knees as he stopped him in full speed.

"Hey man, what gives?!"yelled the thief, because Miles kept a firm on the purse.

"Dude, slow down! Don´t ya think you oughta let go of it now?"asked Miles mildly as the thug kept yanking on the purse until...

With a loud noise, the purse ripped sending all objects within it flying across the place. The thief gasped looking around his ripped treasure before bringing out a hunter´s knife from his belt, which drew gasps from the people staring around. Miles laughed openly and as the thief made a lunge at him with the knife, he stepped aside allowing the blade to miss him by centimeters before retaliating with his fist.

**BANG!**

Miles´ fist made a loud sound as it connected with the masked face of the thief, sending him instantly to the ground. The thief made a small motion to get up, before sliding to the ground clearly unconcious. As Lily reached him, Miles made a small gesticulation to the policemen pointing his finger at the thief.

"_Book him_ boys."he said drawing instant cheers from the crowd.

The policemen looked startled for only a second before approaching the unconcious man and taking off his mask.

"Hey, this is a number we´ve been searching for a while now."said the policeman in wonder as another loud cheer rang from the people looking at them.

"Ol´thunderbolt strikes again."exclaimed Miles pumping his fist into the air proudly as the policemen busily applied the handcuffs to the thief´s hands.

"You´re a hero Mr Miles."exclaimed one of the women in the crowd and the crowd quickly joined in clapping and cheering, the Tofus and Hubbubs included.

"Aww shucks."said Miles shyly while blushing heavily waving his hand neglectigly.

As the people cheered Miles noticed the brown haired girl franticly trying to pick up the belongings which were scattered on the ground and in the nearby bushes. Instantly he moved to the said girl and started to help her.

"Hey, let me help you there, flower-girl."he said as he started to pick up the numerous things on the ground.

"Miles, I can´t thank you enough."she started but Miles waved her off.

"Aww. Don´t mention it, Lil. Always glad to help a friend."he said before looking over at the crowd.

"Yo! Does anyone have a small bag or anything else?"he asked, with most of the crowd shaking their heads in negative.

"Here. I have one."said Wiseman in a small voice, handing Miles a small supermarket bag.

"Thanks Wisey. You´re a _great_ help."said Miles grinning widely showing him a thumbs-up, before taking the bag and putting some of the stuff in his hand into it.

Wiseman blushed and turned to the policemen, who were helping the captured man to his feet.

"Don´t think you´re off the hook, criminal. But since _I´ve_ just chaught a notorious thief, I won´t press any charges for this little turnout."he said, walking to the policemen, who had a hard time trying to keep the thief on his feet.

"Sheesh, he´s completly out of it. I don´t think he´ll be waking up anytime soon, detective."said the policeman as the unconcious man fell down to the ground again despite the Beauvilage´s finest´s hardest efforts.

"That doesn´t matter. We have more than enough wittnesses as it is. Lock him up. Till he ROTS!"he commanded as the policemen sprang to a salute and the crowd went wild once more.

...

"Here Lily dearest. This should help you calm your nerves."said Mom handing Lily a cup of a special tea, which she took gratefully, still shaking from the events an hour ago as everyone sat down in the Tofu´s kitchen.

"Thanks Mrs Tofu."she said gratefully as she sipped her tea, her best friend Lola at her side, her arm around her shoulder consoling her as she drank.

"It´s all right now Lily."said Lola consolingly.

Lily looked at her and smiled.

"I know it is, Lola. I didn´t have anything particuraly valuable in the purse in the first place."

"But still, it must´ve been a horrible experiece for you, dear."said Buba sitting down at Lily´s other side.

Lily smiled once more.

"But it turned out all right. All thanks to..."

She and everyone else took one glance at the side of the room where Miles was seated on the floor pinning a small amulet on Cracker´s head.

"See Crack? This´ll make you the best rooster in town."he said winking at the bird, who crowed happily and he laughed.

"He´s the _only_ rooster in Beauvillage, Miles."said Lola with a giggle.

"But he´s still the best. Right, Crack? That´s my little partner."he said affectionately patting the rooster.

"You´re the hero of the day, Miles."exclaimed Bee throwing her arms into the air.

"Oh, please Bee. I just thunderbolted the guy nothing more."he said blushingly scratching his head in an embarrassed manner.

"She´s right, Miles. You´re a _godsend_. The Great Oneness has truly graced us with the greatest of gifts when you came to our small town."said Mom appretiatively.

Miles blushed again, if possibly even more.

"Aww. C´mon guys. You give me too much credit."he said completly red-faced with a hand on his cheek, a broad grin on his face.

"Mom´s right, Miles. As much as I hate to admit it. You´re a real helpfull guy."said Lola in appretiation, her boyfriend nodding.

"Also, you´ve made those people join in the _green dance_. The ritual was a great success thanks to you."said Pop nodding at him.

"Forget about _that_. I´ve made serious _greed_ out of it."said Miles grinningly ringing his small pouch which was full of coins.

"At least _you´ve_ got something out of this whole circus."said Titus nodding to him.

"C´mon Titus. The ritual was a great success and let´s be glad for that. That´s the main point afterall."exclaimed Beth with wide agreement from most of the room.

Titus rolled his eyes and moved closer to Lola and Billy.

"No offence Lola, but if my wife starts to practice that _zen_ nonsence, I´m putting my foot _down_."he whispered as he watched his wife exchanging happy hugs with Mom and Bee, all three giggling like schoolgirls.

Lola laughed and winked at Titus.

"Fair enough, Mr Hubbub."

Titus rolled his eyes and coughed.

"_Titus_, Lola. It´s _Titus_."

The comment gained a look of admired approval from Billy and a happy giggle from Lola.

Lily took another sip from her tea, before letting out a large sigh.

"The only thing that saddens me is that, that was my best purse. Now it´s all ruined."she said sighing once more looking at the ripped pieces of the pink purse on the table.

Miles instantly came infront of her and grabbed her by her shoulders.

"Look, Lil. I´m sorry for ripping your bag like that."

Lily fixed him with a look of affectionate appreciation.

"It wasn´t your fault Miles."

Miles nodded, then as though getting the best idea he ever had, turned to the bag he had at the ritual. Intantly he took out the most beautyfull necklace anyone in the room had seen. It was lined with many mineral-like stones with a giant green gem-like stone in the middle of it.

"This is the most precious piece I´ve got from Pierre, when he was giving the bag to me. I was planning to sell to for _king-kong cash_."he said earnestly as he was hanging the necklace over Lily´s blushing head.

"Consider it a compensation gift from a friend."he said with a true earnest smile.

Though blushing heavily, Lily smiled brightly and she patted his shoulder.

"And a very good friend you are, Michael Miles."

...

"That was a pretty good turnout."commented Oliver as he and Chloe looked at the remaining ceremonial circle.

Night set on Beauvillage and everyone already went home. Chloe smiled at the ceremonial amulet she bought from Miles.

"And we have something to show for it. Plus it was real fun to just dance it out in the street like that."she said, her fingers running around the amulet.

"_And_... I´ve got the manly one."she giggled pointing at Olivers, which indeed looked a bit girly.

Oliver blushed and hid his amulet under his shirt and out of sight.

"It´s a love amulet if you must know. Its supposed to help me get the girl I love."he replied blushingly as he remembered how he got it.

_Miles had explained the meaning of the amulets to each and everyone of them, when the dance ended, dispite Lola´s hisses of protest._

"And you my friend can use this. This´ll help you get the lady of your dreams, the one you´ve had your sights on for some time now."said Miles quietly to him.

_From all the talks with April about her classmates, Miles already knew most of Chichi´s class´gossips. And it proved to be very usefull at times. _

_Oliver instantly blushed a deep red._

"_How... how d´you know?"he stammered._

"_I´m a druid, kid. I _know_ these things."answered Miles mysteriously nodding his head along sagely. _

"Mine is for strength, though April always says that I have way too much already. Hm...the girl you love, Oli? And just who might that be?"she asked Oliver slyly breaking him out of his thoughts.

Oliver instantly blushed and gazed at the girl wide-eyed.

"Chloe... I...are you crazy? No way I´m telling."he said crossing his arms and turning away from her slightly, still red-faced.

Chloe feigned being insulted.

"Oliver. We´ve been friends eversince we were 6. I thought you trust me with anything."she said with a pout.

Suddenly she grinned to herself and poked Oliver in the ribs. Oliver yelped and jumped.

"Chloe stop that! You know I´m ticklish!"he exclaimed but too late.

Chloe made a lunge at him and tackled him to the ground, tickling him mercilessly.

"Chloe...please...Chloe...stop it..."he managed to get out between the laughs as he was trying to push her off.

Chloe, laughing along however didn´t let him. Even as he rolled a bit in vain attempts to escape.

"C´mon Oli... tell me that name...who´s the lucky girl..."she said teasingly her fingers tickling his ribs even more.

Oliver´s laughs doubled and tears started to form in his eyes.

"Not...telling...Chloe..."he said between the laughs, his face was bright red from laughter right now.

Chloe quirked an eyebrow and instantly stopped and stood up.

"Fine. Have it your way then."she said quickly, trying to sound offended without any success.

Oliver´s laughs subsided and he looked at her with a fond smile.

"You´re a wacko, Chloe. The wackiest girl I´ve ever met."

Chloe turned to him with a smile and winked.

"That´s what they all say."

This drew a laugh from Oliver as he got to his feet. Suddenly Oliver´s mobile phone rang and he quickly answered the call.

"Yeah...yes, Mom. I´m on my way."he replied quickly before ending the call.

Chloe looked curiously as Oliver flashed her an apologetic look.

"Sorry Chloe. I have to go home now. My mom is already worried. You know she frets if I stay out too long after dark."

Chloe nodded at the explanation.

"I know. My mom is always so busy, that she doesn´t mind however long I stay out. I could be out of the house for 6 days and she wouldn´t notice a thing. And since I have no Dad to impose any rules..."she said before shrugging.

Oliver always felt a bit sad for Chloe, whenever the subject of parents came up. He knew very well that since the very start she admired the Tofus precicely because of their strong family ties.

"Chloe..."he started but she waved him off.

"I´m not sad, Oli. I´m used to it by now. We´re 14 and its useless to cry over something like this anymore."though it sounded more like she was telling this to herself, rather than him.

Oliver nodded and touched her shoulder.

"But I´m here for you Chloe. Whenever you need."he said earnestly.

Chloe smiled and swiftly grabbed him in a bear hug.

"You always were eversince we were kids. You´re the best friend I ever had, Oli."she exclaimed sounding completly happy.

Oliver blushed deep red once more, but returned the hug.

"_I´d love to be more, than just your best friend though..._"he said to himself quietly, but stopped himself.

He didn´t want to risk his lifelong friendship because of his growing feelings for the girl.

"_She´s your best friend, Oliver. She´s OFF LIMITS, and that´s that._"he repeated to himself the words which had become his mantra over this year.

"You´d better go now. Wouldn´t want you to get grounded."she said with a wink as she let go of him.

"Yeah. See you tommorow in school then."he said quickly before departing.

Chloe smiled a bit as she saw her life-long friend enter their big house, before she started to walk towards her home. She once more looked at the amulet sold to her by Miles and remembered what he told her.

_"Ah I can see, that you have it tough. Just like I used to have. Here´s the amulet of inner strength. But Chloe, I´ll tell you a small secret."he whispered to her and motioned for her to stick out her ear._

"_You don´t need an amulet when your inner strentgh fails. All you´ll ever need to gain it back is friends."he said quietly as though he was really a sage or a prophet._

_But he meant it. From what April told her about Chloe, he felt a bit sympathetic towards the girl. _

"_I´ll keep that in mind. Thanks Mr Miles."she said before taking her amulet._

"_He was right. Still the amulet, whether it works or not is pretty._"she thought smiling to herself as she held the amulet.

As she looked at the abandoned ceremonial circle, she realized that she was standing near the place, where Miles apprehanded the thief today.

"_He´s a real nice guy._"she mused before something chaught her attention.

Poking in the grass near the forest´s hedges was a large fat notebook. Curiosity getting the better of her she approached and picked it up.

"_It´s really big. Wonder what´s in it._"she thought as she opened the first page.

Inside it was handwritten text or notes, as she scanned the notebook, she realied that all of it was completly full with handwritten text. Chloe realized, that it was a novel - written in beautyfull handwriting. She curiously turned the notebook to the first page and read out its name, which was written above the first chapter.

"**The Great Mystery**"

...


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 **

A loud collective laughter ran trough the schoolyard of Beauvillage Elementary the next morning. As always Chichi´s class were hanging around the schoolyard before the first lesson started. Everyone was showing the amulets, most of which looked eccentric,or exchanged conversations on the _cool ritual_ they witnessed yesterday. At least until Chichi and Phil showed up.

"What in the world happened to you two?"asked April between the laughs as everyone was chaught in fits of laughter at the sight of them.

Chichi´s entire head was completly black, his hair sticking to his head like a helmet. Phil´s head was bright blue.

"We´ ve had a small accident yesterday."grumbled Phil grumpily as they approached.

"Guys, I know that "_Boys in Colours_" was the hit movie of this summer, but I think you took it a bit too far."giggled Chloe as another wave of laughter erupted.

"And a bit too late as well."added Oliver in good humor.

"Very funny you two. If you must know, we were painting a giant filter yesterday and the damn ladder gave out under our feet and we fell into the damn paint."growled Chichi, clearly angry and with good reason.

They tried for several hours until midnight to get the paint off, but it wouldn´t come off yet.

"Yeah and that was your Dad´s eco-paint. That stuff doesn´t come off easily."commented Phil looking at Chichi.

"Tell me something I don´t know. And the worse thing is, that it sticks my hair together. It´s completly irritating. We still have to wait for several hours before the paint starts to crack and we´ll finally be able to get it off our faces."grumbled Chichi.

"That´s what you two get, for messing around with something you don´t understand."said Mia with a satisfied look on her face.

"Nice that _you_ understand everything."grumbled Chichi.

Suddenly the bell rang and everyone started to make their way into the class.

Chloe however stopped April, Mia and Emily.

"After Starchy´s class we´ll stay inside. I´ve got to show you something."she said before the four girls entered the school.

Mrs Starchy wasn´t at all pleased at the class´ apprearance.

"WHAT ARE THOSE SUPPOSED TO BE?!"she yelled the moment she got into the classroom pointing at the amulets which everyone except Mia, the brotherhood and Chichi with Phil had around their necks.  
"Uh-oh. She obviously isn´t in a good mood today."whispered Phil to Chichi as the pair was trying to hide their heads from view under their schooldesk.

"She _never_ is."Chichi whispered back.

"They´re amulet charms, Mrs Starchy."answered Liam pointing to his.

"I´ve seen that idiotic ritual! I however don´t approve of the Tofu´s hocus-pocus and I will not approve of these stupid amulets. TAKE THEM OFF THIS INSTANT!"she yelled but the students all looked at their amulets with hesitation.

"TAKE THEM OFF OR I WILL LAND THE ENTIRE CLASS IN DETENTION!"she yelled again, but instantly realized she was fighting a lost battle for the students looked rebelious.

She sighed.

"At least keep them out of my sight!"

This command met with more approval from the class. Everyone hid their amulets inside their clothes.

"Archie! Tex! I thought I told you not to wear those sunglasses in my class!"she yelled at the two.

"But...but these were from detective Wiseman."explained Tex with Archie nodding.

Starchy´s eyes flared.

"I don´t care if they´re from the President of the Universe. TAKE! THEM! OFF!"

At that yell, Archie and Tex did as they were told, while Nick, seated behind them with Mia was shaking his head while looking at them.

"Completly irresponsible! Next thing you know you kids will start smoking cigarretes straight in class."she ranted.

Archie looked stricken and asked Tex quietly.

"You mean we can _do_ that?"

Suddenly he was whacked from the behind by Nick.

"NO _stupid_! Now shut up before you get her angrier!"growled Mia and Archie cowered and fell silent as his aunt continued her rant.

"What in the world have I done to teach such children?! Chichi! Phil! What are you two doing?! Why are you hiding your heads under the desks?!"

"Busted!"said the pair to themselfs in unism before raising their heads to full height.

And so a yet another scream was heared from Beauvillage Elementary.

...

As the lession ended April eyed her two friends being "escorted" to the principal´s office by their ever-angry teacher.

"Poor boys."said April sadly.

"That was a bit harsh. I mean they explained everything. And it really was an accident unlike those amulets so what more did she want?"commented Emily.

"Y´know that they hold a special place in ol´Starchy´s heart. She´d love to get them suspended from school if she had her way."said Chloe clearly angry about it.

"Serves them right. If only she _did_ have it her way. We´d have those stupid idiots off our hands for good."said Mia, clearly enjoying Chichi and Phil´s peril.

"Nick, Tex and Archie are all nobel prize winners, right?!"retorted April, glaring Mia angerly.

"Still better than those two wackos. At least _they_ can be controlled. Unlike the twosome, who are completly unpredictable. You never know what they´ll do next."said Mia returning the glare.

"I like that about them. At least you don´t get bored with them."commented Emily ildly.

"Before this spirited discussion goes any further, I want to share with you something. I found this yesterday."said Chloe bringing out the notebook she found.

"Wow. What is it?"asked April and Emily in unism.

"You two are nobel prize winners too, I see. An old notebook what else?"smirked Mia, while both Emily and April glared her.

"We meant what´s inside, Ms Know-it-all."grumbled April.

"Anyway its a mystery novel."explained Chloe.

April and Emily immediatly squealed.

"How cool."exclaimed the latter.

"Is it any good?"asked April.

"Well I don´t know yet. I haven´t read it. I wanted us to read it together."explained Chloe, opening the large notebook.

"_The Great Mystery?_ What a cheezy name."sneered Mia while rolling her eyes.

"Let´s wait until the classroom is empty before we start."suggested Chloe, looking around the classroom as most of their classmates were exiting, eager to get to the yard.

"Humph. My valueable time would be better spent on other matters."said Mia snobbishly as she looked at Oliver and Liam, who were just leaving.

"Wait up Oli."she called to the two boys before running after them.

"Really. If _she_ ends up dating Oliver, I´ll become a nuclear physicist."growled Chloe.

She was never a fan of Mia´s ambition for her best friend. She knew, that Mia´s interest in Oliver is only because he´s the most popular boy of their class and was for years. Also because his parents are bigshot bankers, Oliver´s family, unlike hers never really had a financial problem. Though unlike Mia, Oliver never bragged about it or postured snobbishly like her.

"Anyway, let´s start reading. I´m really interested."piped up Emily looking around the classroom to make sure it was indeed empty.

"This is so _cool_!"squealed Chloe as the break was coming to its end.

"Sooo incredible... I mean I litterally don´t want to stop reading."said April, who took it upon herself to start reading outloud before later passing that task to the other girl, be it Chloe or Emily.

"But we should. The others will be back soon."sighed Emily and soon enough the first of their classmates returned to the classroom and April passed the notebook to Chloe who quickly placed it into her bag.

Chichi and Phil returned a second later. The three girls immediatly stood up and raced to the duo.

"Are you two all right? You haven´t been given detention or worse suspended?"asked April breathlessly.

"We´re completly fine, April."said Chichi soothingly.

"In fact, we´ve just had a nice little laugh with the principal."explained Phil still chuckling to himself.

"And Starchy wasn´t very appretiative of it. But when we explained to him our accident, he started to laugh and commented it. Starchy was completly fumming with rage and she walked out of the office."said Chichi happily, though his face was still black.

"Uh-oh. Then you two should steer-clear of her for a few days. No doubt she´ll try some way to get even with you. Even if you didn´t do anything."warned Chloe and the two boys nodded.

"And what did you girls do in the meantime? Weren´t you in the yard?"asked Phil curiously noticing, that the girls were in the classroom for a longer time.

"Oh just a bit of light reading."said April mysteriously.

Chichi and Phil exchanged bewildered looks.  
...

Lily sighed again as their lesson with Mr Philips ended. Following the career choice week, everything went back to normal in their class. But in the aftermath of the _Soil renewal ritual_ the class was on cloud nine. Many were excitedly comparing the amulets they purchased and talked about yesterday endlessly. Mrs Morter expressed her reservations about it, but no one really listened to her. Even Cherie was looking happily at her gold-painted amulet, discussing with other girls the person, who sold them.

"He´s _so_ incredible."sighed Mary.

"And _wise_."sighed Nina.

"And _strong_. Did you see the way he bashed that theif? The guy was down after one single hit."remarked Zoe with a giant hero-worship sigh.

The three girls´ face showed complete infatuation.

"I wonder how would it feel to be held by those strong hands."wondered Nina and the two other swooned.

"I wonder how would it feel to share a kiss with him."wondered Mary carrying on.

"I wonder what would he be like...in bed."said Zoe and all three blushed and sighed again.

"_I_ only wonder, why do you bother dreaming about such a thing, when clearly it won´t happen."said Cherie, as she stood looking at the three girls with a smug expression.

"What d´you mean Cherie?"asked Nina with some fear in her eyes.

"I mean, that none of you will feel his arms, lips or any private part of his body. _I´m_ the one, who will become his girlfriend."

The three girls gasped at that. Lily´s eyes went also wild and stared at Cherie as though she saw her for the first time.

"No you won´t Cherie! I´m the one who will be his love!"exclaimed Zoe, clearly angered.

"Both of you are wrong. Michael Miles will be my boyfriend."said Mary in a matter-of-fact tone.

That started everything. The three girls started to argue and fight. Nina stood back, not wanting any part in this.

"What´s the problem in here?"asked Billy, who came in with Lola and they stopped by Lily´s side.

"They´re arguing who among them will be Miles´ _girlfriend_."said Lily darkly.

Lola and Billy flashed her a shocked look before returning their sights to the fighting girls.

"Shouldn´t we go break it up?"asked Billy, though he really wouldn´t want to interfiere, since the fight was looking very intimidating.

Lily made a derisive snort.

"_Let them_. Let them fight all they want over something which will never happen."she said glaring the girls.

"Tell me about it. I mean I never seen Miles show any love or infatuation for anything else than money."commented Lola.

"Don´t be so hard on him, Lola. Perhaps he is just waiting for the right girl."said Lily quietly frowning at her best friend who looked stricken.

"I didn´t mean anything bad by it, Lily. You know how he is. But all in all, I think you´re right."she said quietly before returning her gaze to the fight.

"And the way I see it, none of these three deserve him."she added.

"I couldn´t agree more."answered Lily darkly.

"I can now see, why you chose not to show your amulet to them, Lily. I can only imagine what racket it would make."commented Billy, looking at Lily.

Lily smiled to herself, fingering the beautyfull amulet necklace under her shirt. Then however she remembered what happened this morning.

"I wanted to talk about that, guys. A very curious thing happened this morning. You see, I took a long walk before going to school and when I appreached the Beauvillage Museum of Natural History, the necklace glowed bright green for a few seconds."

Billy and Lola looked at eachother for a few seconds.

"Perhaps a trick of light."suggested Lola but Lily shook her head.

"That´s exactly it. I´ve kept my necklace under my shirt for the entire time. After yesterday, I really didn´t want to get robbed again."

Lola and Billy´s mouths fell open.

"D´you think, that necklace could have some...well...magic power?"asked Billy completly stunned.

"I don´t know Billy. But I think I should ask about it. Either Miles, or your Mom Lola or perhaps even Bee."she wondered.

Lola was about to reply before a loud authoritative voice sounded trough the classroom.

"What is this? Enough! Girls stop!"

Cherie, Zoe and Mary stopped in mid-action as Mr Philips came into the class.

"What is this about?! And I warn you, you´d better have a good explanation."he said calmly, but crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes.

The three girls stammered before answering, one cutting off the other. Mr Philips sighed and placed a hand on his forehead.

"Come now, girls. That is reason enough to fight?"he asked in the same calm voice.

"But they..."started Cherie pointing at the two remaining girls.

"Cherie! How old are you?"asked Philips calmly.

"17. All of us are"she answered.

"Then why are you three brawling like 5 year old children over a toy? Aren´t matters of heart meant to be discussed with the person you feel those feelings for? All in all its upon Mr Miles to decide which girl he will date. But how would you think he would react if he had seen this little scene?"

The three girls instantly looked haunted. Then they all looked at the floor, heads bowed in shame.

"I will forget I saw this. But be warned, girls. If I see you fighting like this again, you will face the concequences. Am I understood?"he finished in a authoritative voice.

The three nodded their heads in agreement. Mr Philips smiled at them.

"Good. Now I suggest, that you apologize to eachother and go enjoy the rest of your break."

The girls looked at eachother and left the classroom, but not before Zoe apologized to Mary, since Cherie left in a quick pace. Philips sighed to himself, before noticing Lola, Lily and Billy. Smilingly he approached them.

"Like little children, aren´t they?"he asked them in good humor and his other three chuckled.

"May I sit down with you? Unless you´d rather be alone..."he asked politedly.

The three teens looked at eachother and Lily answered with a smile.

"Go ahead, professor. We don´t mind a little company."

Philips smiled and sat down on the schooldesk where Lily was seated, looking very much like one of their classmates rather than a professor.

"Lola I must say, that yesterday´s ritual was a blast."he said, showing them his amulet.

"Professor, you really believe in that green sorcery?"asked Lola completly stunned.

Philips shrugged.

"Is it really so hard to believe? There _are_ things between heaven and earth. And as far as I know, green sorcery was situated about our attachment to nature. You see, in this modern era we live in, people tend to think that they are different from every other living creature and are ever forgetfull of these ties. In fact, we humans have always been fascinated by magic and supernatural things and rituals like that were pretty common. Several cultures over the centuries made these rituals kinda like we have celebrations and holidays. Whether they actually worked or not was irrelevant."

The trio looked at eachother trying to process their homeroom teacher´s musings.

Lily thought about it for a second, then about her amulet necklace before thinking about the question she had, trying carefully to piece it together.

"And...d´you think things like magic are ... real?"she asked.

Mr Philips thought to himself for a while before smiling and nodding.

"Eventhough I´ve never seen a piece of it, not in any real sence, I´d say...yes. I believe things like that exist. Why do you ask Lily?"he asked curiously.

Lily shrugged.

"Just curious I guess. But professor, I wonder if you know what this is..."she asked showing the amulet necklace to him.

Philips gasped, recodnition in his eyes.

"Oh my... Where did you get this, Lily?"he asked as he touched the gems on it.

"Miles gave it to her professor. D´you recodnize it?"asked Lola also curious about it.

Philips examined the necklace for a few seconds before turning to the three.

"I haven´t seen a necklace like this since I was your age...no...even younger. But it wasn´t seen for a long time in Beauvillage. Eversince ol´Bunglewood dissapeared."he said as though to himself.

"Who?"asked all three young teens in unism.

"_Balthazar Bunglewood_. And old man who used to live here. He was kinda the predecessor of your family in Beauvillage, Lola."he said gestured to Lola with a smile.

"You mean an eco-freak?"she asked with a giggle.

Philips nodded.

"Yes you could say that. Indeed he made many eccentric protests as well as rituals over the years. Hell, I still remember the _Soil renewal ritual_ he made when I was 7 years old. Only that time, _he_ was the only one dancing the _green dance_. However as the next harvest came, it was one of the most fruitfull ones in Beauvillage´s history. In fact I´ve never seen such a big harvest since then."he remembered and the teens gasped.

"You think it actually worked? The ritual I mean?"asked Billy completly perplexed.

"Does it matter if it did or didn´t, Billy? What mattered was that the next harvest was rich. Does it really matter how it happened?"

The teens once more looked at eachother. Suddenly Lola remembered something.

"Professor, you said that he dissapeared?"

Philips nodded grimly.

"That´s right Lola. Its the single greatest mystery of Beauvillage. 20 years ago, Ol´Bunglewood dissapeared. Positively vanished into thin air. No one ever found out what happened to him. The police investigated numerous times to no avail. They searched his house, but found no trace of anything unussual, or rather more unussual than he used to be. I do remember Bunglewood taking care of one boy about my age, perhaps even younger, but he seems to have dissapeared months before him."

Lola shuddered, Billy quickly placed his arm around her shoulder, while Lily was looking with a haunted look.

"Thank you, Mr Philips."she said quietly.

All three others looked strangely at her.

"For what Lily?"asked Philips curiously eyeing her.

"Another little adventure comes to me."said Lily with a happy glint in her eyes.

...

Lily spent most of the remainder of the day in the town library, trying desperately to find some shred of information about Balthazar Bunglewood. However so far, she had absolutly no luck.

"How in the hell am I supposed to find out more, when no one those days bothered to keep any information about Beauvillage´s most eccentric citizen."she wondered chewing on her pencil in frustration.

Deciding to give up trying to find anything in the library she made for the door until something chaught her attention.

At the counter, where the books are being checked out was a stack of old newspapers.

"Finished, Lily? Found anything useful?"asked Mr Readout, the librarian about her mother´s age.

Lily sighed and shook her head.

"Nothing. You wouldn´t happen to know anything about Balthazar Bunglewood, Mr Readout?"she asked, but he shook his head in negative.

"Sorry, Lily. I moved to Beauvillage 6 years ago. So I have no knowledge of this Bunglewood fella."

Lily sighed. Then she looked at the newspapers.

"What are these for?"she asked curiosly.

"For the archives Lily. We try keeping a record for our town´s history sake. These for instance are three years old."he replied.

"No information about Bunglewood though."said Lily sadly as she reached curiously for the top paper and read.

"_The museum burglary mystery has been solved at last. Two fearless adventurers found the trasure, which is now back in our museum of natural history. The treasure itself dissapeared 17 years ago shortly before the dissapearance of Balthazar Bunglewood, who was thought to have been a suspect in the case. However before the police could gather any evidence at all, Mr Bunglewood vanished from the face of the Earth without a trace. The treasure was also believed to have been lost for almost two decades. Many citizens believed, that Balthazar Bunglewood had taken it with himself. This was however wrong. Two of our town´s boys had found a mysterious treasure map and investigated, finally finding the missing treasure and returning it to the museum. One thing among the stolen items is however still missing – a fossilized dinosaur egg. The said heroes were awarded special honours by Mayor Haveitall and also our Museum._"

Lily gasped.

"That´s it!"she exclaimed, but gasped once more, when looking at the picture on the front page.

In front of the museum of natural history, standing infront of the treasure with the mayor between them were...

"Phil and Chichi!"

...


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

"Thanks Mrs Conners."thanked Lily as she made for Phil´s bedroom.

"Its allright Lily. But I don´t know if you´ll be able to talk with those two about anything right now. They´re locked in their _world_."said Phil´s mother rolling her eyes with a smile.

Phil and Chichi after getting the paint from their heads decided, that they should have a quiet afternoon. Which of course meant that they will play Phil´s joystation.

"_Too much!_ Sucker down!"heared Lily as she peeked trough the door.

Phil and Chichi were sitting on the ground in front of the TV, hard in play playing their favourite game – Blastmasters 2. She quietly approached them, which they barely noticed as they shot at the Gzorbial king. She observed with a smile as they blasted the king down before coughing to announce herself. The boys instantly jumped and whipped their heads in her direction.

"Lily? What´re you doing here?"asked Phil in wonder.

"I was looking for you two. Mom Tofu told me you would be here."explained Lily, as a large "Game Over" rolled up on the screen.

"You were loking for us? What d´ya need?"asked Chichi curiously.

Lily sat down on Phil´s chair and started to explain the whole thing. The boys listened with interest as she asked them her question.

"Will you help me unravel this mystery? I want to learn everything about Bunglewood I can."

Chichi and Phil looked at eachother and smiled back on her.

"You got it, Lily. We´re in."said Phil at once.

Lily smiled back, but Chichi looked thoughtfull.

"One thing intriuges me, though..._why_ d´you want to find out about Bunglewood in the first place?"

Lily frowned at that. She didn´t really expect the boys to question her motives and she didn´t want to give them. At least just yet. She quickly thought up an excuse.

"I just find it interesting. That and I really wish for a small adventure."she explained, hoping they would buy it. It _was_ true to some merit anyway.

"Well if its an adventure you´re looking for, you came to the right place. Adventures ´r us afterall."said Chichi proudly indicating to himself with his thumb and Lily giggled.

"You sound like Miles."

Chichi grinned sheepishly. Phil however looked thoughtfull.

"No offence, Lily but I don´t think that´s the only reason."he said apologeticly wanting to hear it all.

Lily sighed. Phil really knew her well by now.

"It´s a secret, guys."she confessed, saying the magic word.

Predictably, the two frowned.

"C´mon Lily. You can tell us."promted Phil pleadingly.

Lily however shook her head.

"No guys. Its my secret. I haven´t even told _Lola_ yet. Sorry but no."

Phil hung his head sadly and Chichi looked rebelious. Suddenly Lily got a great idea how to make it right.

"Tell you what. I challenge you to a round of Blastmasters. If you win, I´ll tell you the secret. If I win, we won´t mention it anymore and get down to solving the mystery."

It had the intended effect. Both boys´ eyes sparkled with the challenge and bright determined smiles appreared on their faces.

"You´re on, Lily."said Phil pointing to his joystation.

The game lasted only for 15 minutes.

"I...can´t believe it..."said Chichi with a haunted look on his face, still gazing on the screen.

Lily giggled. She just handed them down their butts, even when the two teamed up against her.

"We got our butts blasted _this_ easily?!"exclaimed Phil also in a small trance.

"Well boys, a loss is a loss."she said smugly, as she put the control down.

"And you call _me_ a game-freak?"grumbled Phil, his eyes on Lily who giggled again.

"That´s because you _are_ one, Philip Conners. It doesn´t however mean, that you´re better than me when playing is involved."she answered teasingly and Phil blushed at her tone, when using his full name.

"Ok. You win. Let´s get down to the Bunglewood case now."said Chichi quickly, not wanting to think about the defeat any longer.

Lily giggled once more before sitting down on Phil´s bed and reaching out for the new handbag she brought along. Chichi remained sitting on the ground and Phil moved to his table, and fired up his computer.

"Ok. Let´s go over what we know. Can you tell me about that museum theft?"asked Lily drawing out a notebook and a pen from her handbag, ready to write.

"Well it all started when Buba found Bunglewood´s bag in a garage-sale. We found a treasure map in there. As we searched for the treasure in the river we also went for information into the Museum of Natural History. The old guard told us that Bunglewood was a guard in there years back. He said he was really eccentric and that he quit his job after the burglary in the museum. The police suspected him, but he dissapeared into thin air. Later on we found the treasure in the woods."said Chichi recounting the tale.

"What was the treasure?"asked Lily curiously.

"Several fossils, some bones and minerals. And a _dinosaur_ egg."said Phil, grinning at Chichi, who scrowled.

"Which turned out to be an ostrich egg."he grumbled and Phil laughed.

"Which hatched and the baby ostrich thought Chichi was its mother. It chased him all around the yard."

Lily also laughed at that little part of the tale.

"What happened to it anyway?"she asked curiously.

"We gave it to the Beauvillage Zoo. What else."said Chichi dismissively.

"Anyway, let´s see what we can find on the net."said Phil accessing the internet.

Phil searched for about 5 minutes until he stumbled upon the town´s history page.

"Hey, even _we_ are listed here."he exclaimed with some surprise.

Lily and Chichi came closer and read the several articles of their adventures most recently the drug case and the pet incident.

"Wow. I didn´t know, that the town keeps records like that."said Chichi completly astounded.

"I did. My Dad an Angela Haveitall – the mayor´s daughter write the articles for history´s sake. Even Miles is there."said Lily looking on the screen.

They scaned the small article about Miles and looked at eachother incredulously.

"They sure don´t know him very well, do they?"asked Chichi in humor.

"Doesn´t look like they do. Anyway time to look on Bunglewood."said Phil.

He clicked on the icon "Bunglewood Balthazar" and an even smaller article came out. On the top side was a picture of a very old white-bearded man with a friendly face, blue eyes and a large blad patch on the top of his head, dressed in the museum guard uniform.

"So that´s what he looked like. Sheesh he looks almost ancient. Probably a hundred years old."commented Phil.

"Looking at the age collumn, he would be. _Look, 80 years old at the time of his dissapearance_. That was 20 years ago if I remember correctly."said Chichi.

"Let´s see what else we can find."suggested Lily before starting to read the article.

"_Without a doubt the most eccentric citizen Beauvillage ever had. Many information about his life are as uncertain as his dissapearance. Though posessing a friendly nature, he mostly kept to himself. However he advocated for protecting the enviroment many times. Most prominently when the Beauvillage Chemical Works were about to be built. He also made very eccentric demonstrations everytime. _

_Inclined towards nature, he also made several rituals each year, drawing both curiosity and disdain from the other citizens. Though supposedly wealthy enough, Bunglewood worked in many jobs all of which were somehow linked to animals or the enviroment. He was also helpfull at the construction of the Beauvillage Zoo. He was also supposed to be a traveler and indeed he set out on long journeys, which lasted several months. From one such journey he returned with a 8-year old boy named Ezekiel Lowgreen and he started to take care of him until he was 17. Then the boy ran away from Beauvillage and the police hadn´t investigated further. This happened just two weeks before his mysterious dissapearance.  
Though friendless, he was on best terms with Johnatan Haveitall, whom he helped to become the mayor of Beauvillage in order to replace the business-oriented former mayor Evan Ripgrab._

_However 20 years ago, a strange robbery occured in Beauvillage´s Museum of Natural History, where Bunglewood worked as a security guard. Though claiming he had nothing to do with the case, the police suspected him. The next day, Bunglewood quit his job and since that very same day, no one has ever seen him again. The police raided his house on the small island of Beauvillage Lake and came up empty handed. The museum theft remained a mystery for 17 years until solved 3 years ago by Chichi Tofu and Philip Conners, who found the missing artefacts. But Balthazar Bunglewood´s final fate is still a mystery that is considered the greatest in all of Beauvillage´s history.  
15 years ago the mayor has honoured his wish and closed down the Chemical Works. He mentioned him in his speech during that occasion. Bunglewood though eccentric and thought of insane was extremly knowledgable in many fields including history, art, agroculture and archeology. He was also very skilled at sculpturing and the statue in the center of Beauvillage park was made by him as a gift to the town, upon its completion to which he greatly contributed.  
Many of those, who grew up here consider Bunglewood as the fore-runner of the Tofu family._"

A silence followed for a while.

"Well that helped. But only a bit. Can you print it out Phil?"said Lily and sat back down on his bed as he nodded.

"He does sound like an interesting guy. The folks would definitely have a lot to talk about with him."mused Chichi sitting down as well.

"We´ve got enough info to get started. What´s our first thing to do?"asked Phil as he held up the printed pages.

"Well, first I´ll process this into my notebook. I´ll make a list of people and tommorow we will split up and try to find out more. But don´t speak about the real reason we´re investigating."said Lily already taking the pages out of Phil´s hand.

"Hard to do so, when even _we_ don´t know it ourselfs."chuckled Chichi.

"Good point."grinned Lily before continuing.

"And lastly, we can check-out the zoo, park and Bunglewood´s house."

Chichi thought to himself for a while, then asked.

"On the island of Beauvillage´s lake, huh? I´ve heared that the house is haunted."he recollected the memory.

He heared some of the older folk talk about it over a year ago.

"Oh, please Chichi. A genius like you shouldn´t believe in ghosts."said Lily shaking her head.

"In any case, I really think we should find out all we can before we go there."said Chichi.

Phil and Lily nodded.

"We´ll get on it in the morning, then. But first there is one small thing I want to do..."said Lily with a mischievous look on her face.

Phil and Chichi looked at eachother in puzzlement.

"Which is...?"asked Phil curiously and Lily´s grin grew bigger.

"Blastmasters."she said pointing on the still on joystation.

...

"_Come on, what´s the hold-up?! – asked Razor adjusting his pink dress and looking at Rainbows, who was having second thoughts about the disguises._

_I can´t do it. Not dressed like this. – he complained, thinking the idea of dressing up like women is absurd._

_Razor however came closer to him and adjusted his blonde wig on his head. For a second he looked very closely on him and Rainbows was begining to blush._

_D..Detective...?Why are you looking at me like that?-he asked uneasily under his superior´s gaze. _

_You look incredibly sexi - commented Razor and Rainbows´ blush went even redder,as his jaw dropped nearly to the ground._

_N..NO I DON´T. THIS DRESS IS NOT EVEN MY COLOUR! – Rainbows was yelling, but Razor grinned at him. _

_I thought you were colour-blind..._"April read out loud and she, Chloe and Emily sprang into giggles.  
The girls met up in the class earlier in the morning, before any of their classmates would show up. Just to read some more of the "_Great Mystery_" in private. They were already in the half of the book and things were getting very interesting and now also amusing.

"Poor guys."commented Emily humorously.

"Better than getting beat up by those women. I wonder how bad would it be if those feminists found out, that they are men, much less policemen."mused Chloe before she sighed.

"Detective Razor is the coolest."

Emily nodded, but April looked thoughtfull.

"In a wierd way, he reminds me of either Chichi or Miles. His craftyness, cheekiness, the drive he has..."

Chloe grinned.

"And of course, you´d love to find Chichi like Madame Resauqe found Detective Razor in that room, right?"she asked slyly.

April blushed. The female character in the book found the detective in his appartment, just as he exited the shower naked. She replayed that chapter in her mind and imagined Chichi exiting in the same manner, before just like in the book the scene moved on to them making love.

"Earth to April...are you listening?"

Chloe snapped her out of her dreamy state full on with a lovesick smile and giggled with Emily.

"She has it bad, doesn´t she?"asked Emily happily.

"You can say that again."grinned Chloe and April´s face was bright red now.

"I...anyway let me continue..."she said quickly grabbing the novel and picking up where she left off.

"_I thought you were colour-blind. _

_I am. And I still don´t like the colour of this dress – said Rainbows grumpily, before the two continued pacing trough the halls. They entered the library, which was magnifiscent. Giant shelfs up to the very cieling in all four corners of the giant room, all piled with books. _

_Razor began to scan the shelfs. Rainbows looked oddly at him._

_What are you looking for? – he asked completly lost. _

_Dust. Or rather, missing dust. – he answered still not stopping. _

_Dust? I don´t get it. – said Rainbows shaking his head._

_Razor sighed. _

_If these women read the books in this library, I´m a monkey´s uncle. I think only the murderer must´ve got the information to perform his acts in here. We need to know what he read, before we´ll be able to do anything else. _

_He dragged Rainbows to the books._

_Look at the shelfs. What d´you see? – he asked. _

_Dust. They´re all dusty. – Rainbows answered._

_Right. A clear inch of dust to be exact. But if the murderer read a book from here, the dust on the shelf would´ve been wiped when he took the book out of the shelf. _

_Rainbows´ face flashed with understanding. _

_I get it. So that´ll tell us, which book it was. _

_Razor nodded. _

_Exactly. Now look over the other two shelfs. _

_With that the duo started to look over the shelfs for over a minute until..._

_AHA! Got it – exclaimed Rainbows._

_Perfect. Now let´s take it and get out of here before..._

_Suddenly a loud voice of Madame Blanche sounded from the door._

_What..."_

"What are you doing there?"asked a voice in the classroom and the three girls jumped.

Oliver and Liam were standing behind them looking curiously.

"Don´t scare us like that!"exclaimed Chloe, glaring on Oliver.

"Sorry."apologized Oliver sheepishly.

"What´s that you´re reading?"asked Liam curiously.

The three knew that they were chaught red-handed.

"Chloe found a detective novel."explained April, showing them the handwritten book.

"Chloe finding a book. That _must´ve_ been an accident."commented Oliver with a smile.

Chloe promtly smacked him on the hand.

"_Not_ funny, Oliver Rogers."she said with a pout and Oliver laughed.

Everyone in class knew, that Chloe hates to read books or novels, but it looks like things were changing.

"It must be a good one, then."said Liam as though thinking about the same thing as Oliver.

"It is, guys. Its interesting, funny and action-packed. I wish we only knew who wrote it."said April.

"Can we read it as well?"asked Liam.

Chloe shook her head.

"Nuh-uh! I found it and I´m not borrowing it to anyone."

"C´mon Chloe. Not even to your best friend?"pleaded Oliver, giving her a puppy-eyed look.

"Aww... you´re so cute..."she said affectionately ruffling his hair before...

"NO!"she finished, pulling out her tongue and winking at him.

Emily and April were overcome with a fit of giggles and Liam placed a hand on his fore-head as Oliver stood there blushing like mad.

"But tell you what... we´re planning to go reading it in the park after class. And since its Friday, we can also continue tommorow. You´re welcome to join us."she said surprising the two girls.

Oliver and Liam looked happily at eachother.

"You´re the best, Chloe."said Oliver appretiatively.

"You should know."said Chloe winking at him again.

"Can some of the others join in as well?"asked Liam.

"Yeah, the boys in our class love mysteries."said Oliver just as the rest of the class arrived into the room.

" not."

Suddenly getting an idea, April stood up and approached Chichi and Phil, who were just sitting down and were in the middle of a conversation.

"...and the principal, too. He also grew up in Beauvillage. He might know something."finished Chichi and Phil nodded before they noticed April.

"Hi guys. Listen. Chloe found an incredible mystery novel and we´re meeting in the park after school to read it. Wanna come?"she asked.

"Sorry, April. We already have plans for the afternoon."said Phil.

"Yeah. We´re working on something right now."said Chichi.

April sighed.

"You and your projects. You´re horrible, Chichi honey-bun."

Chichi shrugged and grinned at her.

"You should know. And _when_ are you going to _stop_ calling me that?"he said to her retreating form.

April turned her head over her shoulder and stuck out her tongue much like Chloe did moments ago before she sing-songed.

"Never."

...

"Man what a lesson. I´m completly beat. Good thing it breaktime."said Lola as she, Billy and Lily exited the classroom.

Billy nodded. Lily however had other things on her mind.

"Sorry guys, but I´ll have to go and take care of something."she said and set off in the opposite direction.

"What is going on with her?"asked Billy worriedly.

"I have no idea. She´s been acting wierd since yesterday."replied Lola.

"Maybe she´s in love again."wondered Billy.

"Somehow, I don´t think so."said Lola uneasily.

"What could it be then?"mused Billy as the two moved down to their school yard.

Lily crossed the hall and stopped at the familiar door. The teacher´s office.

She knocked softly and a second later the door flew open.

"What do you want, Robins?! Can´t you see, that even we professors have a break?!"scolded Mrs Morter angrily.

"I´m sorry to disturb you. I´m looking for Mr Philips."said Lily politely.

"Yes, Lily? What would you like?"came Philips´ voice behind his collague.

"I wanted to ask about something."replied Lily.

"Come on in then."said Philips though his voice was a bit muffled by the food he was eating.

"You´re not serious, Rodney."exclaimed Morter.

"Come now, Melissa. Our student has a question and its a teachers duty to provide knowledge and guidance."said Philips good-naturedly.

Grudgingly Mrs Morter allowed passage to Lily, who entered the small office.

Behind one of the desks sat Mr Philips eating a bacon with some vegetables. He smiled brightly at Lily and gestured towards the seat infront of his desks. There was also music heared. A calm, slow song sang in french by a group of children.

"Du ciel des Anges, professor?"asked Lily smilingly, recodnizing the interpret.

Philips´ eyes opened in happy surprise.

"You know them, Lily?"

Lily nodded.

"During my visit in France, I had the fortune of attending their live performance."

Philips gasped.

"Oh my. That must´ve been something to look at. You like them too, I take it."

Lily thought about it.

"Well...yes. Its not something I paticuraly search for, but I do enjoy their songs. Plus I speak french, so I understand the lyrics. They really have beautyfull songs."

Philips smiled brightly at her, understanding something.

"You´re a gentle one at heart, Lily. But I suspect you haven´t come here to discuss the music preferance. You wanted to ask me about something. Go ahead."he said, turning down the music, as Mrs Morter sat down grumpily and started to eat her food.

Suddenly Lily´s stomach grumbled loudly. Lily blushed as Philips smiled at her, while Morter who was eating soundly pretended not to notice.  
Philips eyed his collague, before looking at Lily.

"Have some of mine, Lily."he gestured to his bacon.

"Oh no professor, I couldn´t."

Philips shook his head.

"Nonsence my dear. Now, have some before you get thin."he said winking at her.

Smiling at her professor, Lily took some of it gratefully relishing the sweet taste as Philips past her a cut up tomato.

"Professor, I wanted to ask you... can you tell me about Balthazar Bunglewood?"

Suddenly Morter spat out what she was eating and started to sputter.

"Why...why would you want to know about that old lunatic?!"she exclaimed looking at her in panic.

Lily shrugged.

"A project I´m working on."she said plainly.

Philip´s eyes grew curious.

"Is it possibly linked to my...suggestion a few months back?"asked Philips just to make sure.

"Yes Mr Philips. I greatly enjoyed doing the first one and now a second one has came across my mind, when you mentioned Bunglewood yesterday."

Philips smiled knowingly.

"I hope you´ll show that first one to me, Lily. I´m very curious at how well you fared."

"What are you two talking about?!"exclaimed Morter angrily.

"That is between me and Lily, Melissa. It concerns Lily´s hidden talent and is a secret."said Philips while smiling at his student.

"There´s nothing about Bunglewood _worth_ knowing, Robins. Other than the man was a completly insane lunatic and that he´s gone. Which is very good for Beauvillage. Only that he was now replaced by that crackpot _Tofu_ family."said Morter, saying the word Tofu as though she was spitting out venom.

Lily instantly frowned at her.

"I like the Tofus, Melissa. Also _Lola Tofu_ is our bright, talented young student. There is no reason to bad-mouth her family."said Philips calmly.

Morter let out an angry exclamation before standing up and moving towards the door.

"I _refuse_ to discuss the Tofus OR Bunglewood for that matter. I can see, that there is no point remaining here, since my appetite is already spoiled."she said angerly before exiting the room and closing the door with a loud bang.

"My apologies, Lily. Mrs Morter has a grudge against ol´Balthazar, since he was mainly responsible for the bungled re-election of the former mayor Ripgrab, years back. You see, he was her father. And Melissa bore a deep hatered towards him because of that."explained Philips.

Lily nodded in understanding.

"Still, she doesn´t have to be so agressive."she said softly.

Philips sighed.

"She was always like that. Even around the time she was in her late twenties, when _I_ attended school here."

Lily gasped in complete surprise and Philips grinned.

"Yes Lily. She was _my_ history professor too. Also principal Whiterose was my homeroom teacher all those years back. She was the same age I am now when she taught me."

Lily was completly stunned.

"And now...you´re their collague."

Philips laughed.

"Funny how things turned out, huh? Mrs Whiterose was always very proud, that one of her _schoolboys_ – as she called us, turned out to be a professor. Melissa however is a different story. It took a while for her to ger used to me, you see she never liked me when I was a student. But let´s cut to the chase. Balthazar. What d´you want to know about him?"

Lily took a while to compose herself, bring out her trusty pen and notebook out of her bag and answered.

"Everything. Anything you know."

Philips nodded and took a moment to recollect his thoughts as both of them helpt themselfs to more bacon.

"Well... the first time I ever remember seeing ol´Balthazar, was when I was five, when he was doing a ritual downtown. Heh, I mistook him for Santa Claus if I remember correctly, with that long white beard of his. But he was a kind and generous man, though a bit eco-centric. Most people avoided him, thinking him to be insane or simply wierd. Much like they avoided the Tofus years back. He was also very gifted in sculpturing. I remember all those statues and statuettes he made. I have one at home myself. As far as I have heared, he was also an explorer and an archeologist. He liked to collect mineral stones, but I have no idea what could he use them for. But wait... I remember now. He sometimes used them in his statues. I remember the one he gave me for my 10th birthday. A tiger – I always wanted to have a pet tiger, when I was a child. And the one he gave me, had small blue mineral stones in his eyes and belly. He said to me, that the tiger will bring me good luck and remind me of my inner strength."he said smiling at the fond memory.

"So you were friends with him?"asked Lily, carefully writing everything down.

"Well, I wouldn´t say friends, but aqquatances yes. You see, he kept mostly to himself. And of course there was Ezekiel. He brought that boy with himself to Beauvillage. He was exactly my age. He was much like Balthazar, but he knew how to get people on his side even when he was still young. He was a mysterious character Ezekiel, much like Michael Miles is now. I think he looked up to Balthazar like a father and a teacher. He attended Beauvillage Elementary with me. We were classmates in fact. I remember that when we were 14, many girls tried to gain his love and affection, but he politely refused all offers. He was an incredibly inteligent child. We also attended _this_ school, but he ran away when he was 17, for unknown reasons. No one really knew how to explain it. Perhaps he reached an inpass with Balthazar, or some other reason no one really knows. I was the last to see him, before he ran away. He said that Beauvillage is no longer his home and left."

Lily thought about it for a second.

"And how did Bunglewood take it?"

"Definitely not well. In the weeks preceeding his dissapearance he was often mumbling something to himself. Very sad he was indeed. I think he truly loved Ezekiel like the son he never had. Well living alone in such a big house can´t be a happy life. And as far as I know, he had no family at all."said Philips shaking his head sadly.

"And his dissapearance?"

"That came as a huge shock and surprise. Innitially the police suspected the ex-mayor of being somehow linked to it, since the man hated him with a passion. If you remember the way Titus Hubbub hated the Tofus years back, compared to Ripgrab´s hatered of Balthazar it was only the begining. He was a die-hard businessman. Very wealthy and very power-hungry. He wanted for Beauvillage to expand into a city which would rival some of the bigger towns. At the cost of the enviroment of course. The chemical works were built on behalf of his dealings mostly. He was a shady character too, often using underhanded tactics. I remember the time, when he illegaly ordered buldozers to run down the forest, because he needed the space for the new car-factory. Without any knowledge with the citizens and completly ignorant of their opinion. He was stopped by the citizens rounded up by Balthazar, who found out about it, but too late – for a dark second there, it seemed, that Beauvillage´s forest is gone for good. But a very interesting thing happened - the buldozers mysteriously corroded overnight before they could begin their operation. No one knew how to explain it – they were corroded so badly, that they litteraly fell apart before our very eyes. Ripgrab however blamed Balthazar, calling him an "old wizard". Not too long after that his re-election approached and Balthazar helped the current mayor get enough votes to replace Ripgrab. The current mayor is more friendly to the enviroment in the very least. A month later, he dissapeared. Balthazar´s dissapearance ended an era in Beauvillage. Most people felt it that way. Since then life in Beauvillage was strangely quiet until the arrival of the Tofus. I remember, that many including Titus Hubbub had in those earlier days protested to the mayor, wanting the Tofus kicked out of town. The mayor however saw them as a good omen, reminding him of Balthazar and refused to listen to any of the complaints."

Lily´s eyes looked in surprise.

"The _populistic_ mayor Haveitall refusing to listen to his voters?"she exclaimed in complete awe.

"I suspect, he did it mostly as a tribute to Balthazar´s memory. He was on the best terms with him and Balthazar´s dissapearance saddened him deeply."

Lily posed her next question gently.

"What d´you think may have happened to him."

Philips thought a bit to himself before sighing.

"I have absolutely no idea. Many kept their toughts about it to themselfs and others were very happy to have him away. Most prominently the ex-mayor, but his happiness was short-lived. Another mysterious thing happened. He died of a strange mysterious disease just two weeks after the dissapearance. I remember the doctors were completly perplexed. They ruled it out as a... what was it... complete blood decomposition. His body fell apart just like those buldozers did in a matter of a day after his death. They had to bury what was left of him immediatly and for the next few days, the doctors were busily checking every citizen of Beauvillage, doing blood tests and everything to make sure no one caught it. But luckily no other case arose. And as for Balthazar, he seems to have dissapeared into thin air overnight. His house showed no evidence of him planning to go anywhere. But after a few years, no one dared approach it. Rumor has it, that its haunted by Balthazar´s spirit. Perhaps more than just a rumor. I know, that some of the boys in my year went into the house about one or two years after the dissapearance, and they came back completly white, claiming to have seen Balthazar´s ghost. Since then, no one dares approach the house on the island."

Lily´s mouth was left open.

"Surely you don´t believe such a thing, Mr Philips."

Philips smiled at her.

"But I _do_, Lily. That´s why I don´t approach it. There _are_ paranormal activities in this world. I sincirely hope, that Balthazar found his peace – I serously doubt he would be alive now. However, some believe that there is something... well..._evil_ in that house and that it claimed Balthazar. Balthazar was deeply involved in Green sorcery, so some believe, that he may have awakened something which isn´t meant to be messed with."

"Green sorcery? Sounds familiar."said Lily quietly.

"It should. The _Soil renewal ritual_ is from it. Also I believe, that Balthazar wrote a book called... _A wizard´s guide to green sorcery_, or something like that. He was a fond writer and enjoyed writing books."

"Do you know, who else might have information about him?"asked Lily, hoping to add another name to the list.

"Mayor Haveitall, the zoo director, perhaps old Mrs Longline – she was a friend of his, but I´m not sure if she´ll remember everything. You see, she is 96 years old now."

Lily nodded and stood up.

"Thank you very much Mr Philips."she said and moved to the door.

"Lily. One thing."said Philips from his table.

Lily turned to look a him. His face was sporting a look of utmost seriousness.

"Please. _Please_, don´t go to Balthazar´s house. It might be dangerous."

Lily shook her head.

"I don´t believe in ghosts, professor."

Philips sighed.

"But as I said the house may hold something and that something may be responsible for his dissapearance. I would be terribly saddened if another dissapearance occured in Beauvillage."

Lily smiled and opened the door.

"You don´t have to worry, professor."she said before exiting and closing the door after her.

Philips sighed again, drawing an age old picture from his desk after a small search. The picture from his 10th birthday. There was his ten year old self with a radiant toothy smile and a statuette of a tiger in his hands. And besides him, holding a hand over his soulder was a white-bearded old man, dressed in a simple shirt and overall pants and smiling happily as the moment was chaught in time forever.

"I hope I don´t. Please let her stay safe. And maybe, just maybe we´ll finaly find out what happened to you, old man."

...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

Beauvillage park was largely known for being the biggest in that part of the country. Many said upon their first visit, that it takes one´s breath away. Stocked full of trees and various other plants, it was more like a piece of the forest than anything else. It connected the busy part of the main street of downtown Beauvillage with the other part, which led to the south suburb part of the town. The Beauvillage river was flowing exactly trough it, adding to the park´s beauty, it also had one magnifiscent metal bridge, which was built in an old-fashioned, but still stylish way. Over the years it was also nicknamed the _bridge of love_, since many couples met eachother, got together and often sprent their times there until nightfall as they watched the river flow. Also Beauvillage´s children often spent their time there during summer, taking a swim in the river and they sometimes competed with eachother, who would jump a better jump from the bridge of love. Also on the sides of the river, there were small swings built into the trees by eager teens, who used them to jump into the water. It also held one or two places for a camp fire, which were also visited by both teens and their parents. In fact, during summer you had to be really fast to score an unused spot since most groups in Beauvillage were eager to have a small camp cookout. The pavements were all natural, soil ones, for which the mayor always payed community workers in order to keep them in fine order. The sides of the pavement were lined with benches, on which everyone eagerly sat. There were also several statues in the park, even one at the river, which were big and rather impressive. At the very center of the park, was a great nicely kept flower garden, which was surrounded circulary by benches and four statues (a wolf, a bird, a bull and a goat) from each side of the road and one large of a cloaked - hooded man with a giant walking stick in the middle.

"I´ve always wondered just who in the heck made these."wondered April as she looked at the statues, sitting down on one of the benches.

"Whoever it was, he must´ve been one hell of a talented guy. I mean look at those details. These statues seem almost alive."said Emily examing the wolf closely.

"Yeah those colourfull stones in their eyes make them look so... I always wondered though... if they have some sort of special meaning..."said Chloe looking around.

"What d´you mean?"asked April confusedly.

Chloe looked around herself for a bit, before responding.

"I mean, look around yourselfs. This is a perfect circle and each animal statue is on the side of each of the four roads leading into it as though guarding the circle. Four animals... two domestic ones and two wild ones... all situated around this monk of a man. Its as though it was like a sort of a ritual..."mused Chloe, pacing a bit.

April and Emily looked at her, then at eachother, then burst into giggles.

"You must´ve been reading too much of the _Great Mystery_, Chloe."said Emily shaking her head.

"Yeah, you´re begining to sound like Detective Razor already."said April slyly, knowing the hero-worship Chloe developed to the main character.

Chloe blushed a bit before retaliating.

"I don´t see _you_ having a problem with deductions, when your beloved _Chichi honey-bun_ is solving _his_ riddles."she said with a pout and April blushed a deep red.

April quickly composed herself and was ready to retaliate, but Emily´s gasp drew their attention. From the road towards the bull statue, slowly walking to them was almost their entire class.

"Woah, I didn´t expect this many people..."said Chloe.

"Well, the idea was very popular..."said Oliver sheepishly as he drew near enough.

"We´ll looking forward to this detective novel."piped up Brian, their blonde-haired classmate.

"Yeah, let´s start reading now."said Abbygail, another of their classmates.

"Wait for us."came a voice from the other side – the goat statue.

Several of the younger kids from the lower grades ( 5th, 6th and 7th graders) were approaching as well. Led by Victor – Oliver´s younger brother.

"Victor!"scolded Oliver folding his arms and narrowing his eyes at his 11 year-old brother.

Victor, who looked just like his brother, though smaller and his black hair was shorter, grinned at his brother mischievously.

"You told me, that I can bring some friends, bro. That´s what I did."he said, while his older brother scrowled.

"I meant one or two, not half of your class!"said Oliver glaring at him.

"Then you should´ve said so in the first place. Anyway that´s not fair, since half or _your_ class is here too!"retaliated Victor also glaring.

The siblings bickered for a while, with all of the others watching even as more people arrived from the bird statue.

"Why are they arguing so much over something so trivial?"asked Emily, who was sitting between April and Chloe.

"They always argue over such things."said April knowing Oliver for a longer while now.

Oliver´s normaly calm nature always went out the window when his baby brother was concerned. Chloe was observing the two with an exaspirated look before sighing.

"All right. That´s enough."she said as she got up.

Approaching the bickering brothers, she quickly grabbed both of them by the ear.

"Can you two _lay off already_?!"she asked icily as the two jumped.

"Ow... Chloe, lemme go."exclaimed Oliver, his hand going to Chloe´s, which was gripping his ear between her fingers, pulling it painfully.

"Ow...Chloe please."exclaimed Victor at the same time, mimicking his brother´s movements.

"Why in the hell are you two arguing over something so stupid?! It´s not like its a problem and no harm was done."she said in a lecturing voice pulling their ears a bit harder as the two jumped in pain again.

"IT´S HIS FAULT!"exclaimed the two boys pointing at eachother.

Chloe´s eyes flared and she pulled even harder.

"As I said no harm was done, so _stop bickering_! Apologize to eachother and sit down on the benches, so we can start reading."she said sounding more like their mother than anything else.

"B...but Chloe..."both of them protested at once, before yelping in pain as Chloe pulled harder.

"I said _apologize_."she said in a threatening voice.

"All right... sorry Victor."said Oliver, his eyes now watery from the pain.

"I... I´m sorry too, big brother."answered Victor, his eyes equally wet from tears.

Chloe smiled brightly and let them go. The two boys quickly grabbed their pained ears.

"Why must you always do that to us, Chloe?"asked Victor painfully.

Chloe sniffed.

"Because its the only thing that works, when you two are behaving like immature brats, _that´s_ why."she said smugly as the two blushed.

Indeed its a method she has become accustomized to over the years. Indeed Mrs Rogers supports it, since she employs the same method to diffuse the boys and sometimes even her husband. He himself chooses not to say anything and their eldest brother Daniel finds it very entertaining and often teases the boys about it. Much to their annoyance.

"Well I see its lively here."came another voice from the goat statue.

The kids gasped. Mr Weatherby came along with Nick, Tex, Mia and another one of the teachers Mr Barnaby.

"Mr Weatherby? What are you doing here?"asked April, worried that they will get into trouble somehow.

"Well, we heared Nick and Mia over here talking about this little gathering and decided to join in. I hope you kids don´t mind. You see, Bernie and me are also mystery novel fans."he explained, gesturing to his younger collague, who nodded and sat down before starting to clean his glasses.

"I have to say, you chose a very nice location for reading, kids."he said appretiatively.

"Well, since the weather is still nice, its good to spend some time outside."said Emily shrugging.

"I couldn´t agree more, Emily. I always enjoyed this place eversince I moved here years ago."agreed Mr Barnaby kindly as he looked around himself a bit.

"This place hasn´t changed one bit in all these years. I still remember when it was first opened and ol´Bunglewood placed his statues here."said Mr Weatherby gesturing to the statues.

"Bunglewood? Who was _that_?"asked Marcel, looking at his homeroom teacher, eager to hear more about it.

The other kids and even Mr Barnaby looked equally eager.

"A very eccentric old man, who used to live here a long time ago. He often supported and helped with nature-related projects in Beauvillage. In fact, most of the statues in Beauvillage were made by him. Until he mysteriously dissapeared 20 years ago."he answered and everyone drew in their breaths.

"Dissapeared?"asked Florence, looking very scared.

"Yes. Vanished into thin air. And his house on the island of Beauvillage lake was left deserted."said Weatherby looking at the statues once more.

"THAT house?! The _haunted_ house of Beauvillage lake?!"exclaimed Chloe, shaking a bit.

"The very same."nodded Weatherby drawing a long silence from the crowd.

Suddenly a loud sniff was heared.

"Oh please. _Ghosts_?! That´s so stupid, its hilarious."sniffed Nick shaking his head while chuckling.

"You don´t believe it, Nick?"asked Mia, who also heared the rumors and though she didn´t want to admit it to herself or anyone else for that matter, she pretty much believed they are true.

Nick shook his head.

"Of course not! I´m a detective´s aid afterall."he said proudly.

"Yeah and even if it was true, a ghost is no match against the _brotherhood of the Wise_."said Tex just as proudly.

"Yeah. We´re not afraid of anything."added Archie folding his arms proudly.

"I don´t know kids... I heared that there _was_ some paranormal activity in that house."said Barnaby uneasily.

"And ol´Balthazar was a real mystery even when he was _alive_."said Weatherby, mulling something over with a frown.

"The wierd thing is, that I was asked about him today by Phil and Chichi."he said in an afterthought.

The young ones all looked from one to another.

"Why in the world would they ask about such a thing?"wondered Chloe.

"I have completly no idea. I told them all I knew, but what possible use could it be to them, I don´t know."said Weatherby shaking his head.

"Speaking of which... why aren´t they here? I don´t see them anywhere."said Liam, looking around for good measure.

"You don´t know, April?"asked Emily.

"They said, they were going to the town hall, but what on earth for I have no clue."answered April shaking her head sadly.

"Perhaps another one of their projects."suggested Brian and the rest nodded in enthusiasm.

"That must be it. I wonder what they are working on now."said Weatherby happily.

"Whatever it is, let´s hope they don´t fall into some paint again."said Barnaby in humor, and all of them laughed remembering the pair with colorfull heads just yesterday.

"Ah, speak of the devil, look."said Chloe, pointing at the fence beyond the circle.

There, perfectly visible from the side of the circle dispite all the trees, were Chichi, Phil and Lily walking on the pavement. Nick narrowed his eyes and moved towards Tex.

"I´m going to check it out. I´ll call you if something is up."he whispered to him and Tex nodded.

In a swift movement, he creeped down the road from the bull statue, which was the quickest way to the fence and out of the park.

"Shame they won´t join us. But anyway, Chloe let´s start reading this mystery novel you´ve found."said Weatherby enthusiasticaly as everyone sat down on the benches.

Chloe smiled, sat down between Oliver and Victor, brought out the book she found and begain to read.

"_The great mystery : Prologue..._"

...

The town hall was pretty much deserted at this time, which was understandable given that it was Friday afternoon. This of course suited the trio´s purposes.

"D´you think he´ll want to talk about Bunglewood?"asked Phil uncertainly.

"Why not, they were on good terms afterall."replied Lily.

"The question is, how much of it can we actually believe. I don´t think he´ll tell us anything, that could show him in a wrong light. It would be best if we confirm what he tells us later."said Chichi.

"We´ll visit old Mrs Longline tommorow. She´ll know for sure."said Lily as they entered the floor which held the mayor´s office.

Before they knocked on the door of Beauvillage´s most important citizen, they noticed a person climbing down from the rooftop floor with a number of papers and other books, completly blocking any possible view as the person labored under the weight of them. What happened next was innevitable and happened so fast, that neither one of them were able to prevent it. The person tripped on the edge of the red carpet leading and landed on the floor, the books and papers flying in all directions. The trio wasted not a moment and swiftly ran to the person to help. The person was a young 25 year old slender woman, with long brown hair and wore glasses on her handsome face, which were now askrew. She was well known to all the three young teens, as was the case with almost every person in Beauvillage. Angela Haveitall – the mayor´s daughter, whom she served as his secretary and deputy. Unlike her populistic politician of a father, she was very open, kind and easy-going, though being something of a klutz at times – like now.

"Ouch! I positively hate that carpet. Why in the world Dad keeps this ancient antiuqe is beyond me."she grumbled to herself, fixing her glasses as Chichi and Phil got to her.

"Here we´ll help you. Are you OK?"asked Phil.

Angela looked at them and smiled.

"Yeah no broken bones or anything. Thanks."she said as Lily approached while Phil and Chichi busily started to pick up the dropped books and papers.

"Hi Angie. Busy day?"asked Lily politedly.

Angela got to her feet and faced Lily, her smile bright and cheerfull.

"Dreadfully. Dad´s been keeping me busy all day. He needed a few of these old records and you know... his back is still sore a bit. I have to say, its nice to see you. I haven´t seen any of you since the pet convention. What brings you guys here into town hall?"she asked as she and Lily exchanged a friendly hug as the boys already held the fallen books in their arms.

"We´ll help you get these to your Dad´s office, Angie."said Phil.

Angela smiled at the pair before they all started to walk towards the mayor´s office, she and Lily in the lead.

"These two are sooo sweet."she said appretiatively to Lily who giggled.

"They´re always like that."Lily said winking at them over her shoulder.

"Cute too."added Angela also winking at them.

Both boys instantly blushed a deep red and the girls giggled.

"But a pain sometimes."said Lily with a small smirk and the boys frowned.

"Boys will be boys afterall."Angela shook her head smilingly.

Chichi and Phil shared a look and simultaniously glumbled quietly.

"_Girls_."

Dispite their effort not to be heared by them, Lily and Angela knew _exactly_ what the two said.

"Excuse us, boys we didn´t catch that."said Angela in a cheery voice.

"Nothing."replied the two boys as one.

Angela and Lily giggled once more before the former opened the door, where mayor Haveitall was busy working – which meant playing golf in his office.

"Angie my sweet child, you have the records and you´ve brought company as well. Chichi Tofu, Phil Conners and Lily Robins. So very nice to see you, my future voters."he said cheerfully as he approached them.

"Where should we place these?"asked Chichi gesturing a bit with the books in his arms.

"Just place them on the table, boys. I´ll get trough it in a while."answered the mayor.

The boys did as instructed, finally relieving themselfs from the weight.

"What brings you here, kids?"asked the mayor kindly, indicating to the four chairs with a small coffee table and Angela left the room without a word.

"We need to ask you about something, Mr Mayor."said Lily politely as the trio took their chairs.

"As long as it doesn´t concern taxes, you can ask me anything my dear."said mayor Haveitall with a humorous chuckle, though he was the only one laughing.

"We wanted to ask about Balthazar Bunglewood."said Chichi getting straight to the point.

Mayor Haveitall looked at them for a second.

"Why would you want to know about Balthazar? I´m not aware, that you youngsters even know about him."he asked wonderingly.

"We wanted to know a bit about Beauvillage´s history and we stumbled upon him. We wanted to know, what he was like and find out everything we can about him."explained Lily.

The mayor clapped his hands happily.

"Oh my, finally someone young from this town wants to know what a great man he was. He was a friend of mine and I will be delighted to share what I know about him. Though he kept his past pretty much to himself. As well as his activities and I never presumed to ask. He preferred it that way anyway."

Chichi, Phil and Lily were very surprised at his reaction.

"Wow I exprected it to be tougher than this."said Phil to his two friends as they watched the elder man positively jumping in happiness.

"What´s the commotion, Dad?"asked Angela as she returned with a trail in her hands which was stocked with cans of Coola.

"Angie! These beautyfull children want to know about ol´Balthazar."he exclaimed excitedly pointing at the teens.

Angela´s face instantly lit up and sported a look of utter and complete happiness. She squealed, set the drinks on the coffee table and started to jump around like her father.

"I can´t believe it! Finally someone shows interest in him!"

She squealed again before enthusiasticly kissing the boys on both cheeks, leaving them sitting in their chairs completly stunned with faces deep red, and hugging Lily tightly.

"Angie...can´t... breath..."choked Lily, before Angela let her go and hugged her father and the two kept on jumping in their happiness.

"What´s the big deal about this?"asked Lily as soon as she chaught her breath.

"You´re looking for him, aren´t you? You´re trying to find out what happened to him, aren´t you?"asked Angela excitedly, tears of happiness on her face.

"We want to find out about him, yes. But I´m not sure we´ll be able to figure out, what happened to him, Angie."said Phil hurriedly, still blushing.

"Nonsence m´boy! You two found the treasure of Beauvillage river. If _anyone_ can shed some light on the dissapearance of my dear friend, its you!"exclaimed the mayor, who also cried tears of happiness.

"Here guys. Have some Coola. We´ll tell you everything we know."said Angela indicating to the cans on the coffee table.

The trio looked at eachother before they nodded and Lily brought out her pen and notebook.

"How did you find out about him?"asked the mayor curiously, still standing along his daughter.

"We heared several people mention him after the _soil renewal ritual_. And investigated a bit after that. We asked a few people, but no one knew much about him."said Phil.

"Oh, the _soil renewal ritual_...you wait my children, the next harvest is going to be very fruitfull, mark my words. We won´t have to rely on import and instead can export. I can only imagine how much money it will bring into our town´s treasurery."said the mayor, clapping his hands happily again.

"That´s my favourite ritual. The _green dance_ especially."squaled Angela and started to dance it along with her father, who joined in happily.

The trio looked at eachother again, waiting for the two to finish their dance.

"Ok kids. Its time to tell you the story."said the mayor as they sat down facing the young teens, who were very eager to hear it.

Mayor Haveitall took a giant sip from the Coola can his daughter handed to him and began.

"Almost thirty years back, in my hometown of Upcreek Valley, I inherited my father´s business, though I really had no interest in it. Being the only child of my elderly parents it was of course their wish, that I continue in their shoe factory business. At the time, when I married my precious Katherine I was 23. Not very long after that my parents had a mysterious car accident. The case was investigated by Chief Detective Sylvester Wiseman himself and he indeed found out, that the breaks of their car were sabotaged."

"In other words it was murder."injected Phil.

"How despicable."whispered Lily.

"Yes. Even more stranger was, that at that time several other big company holders fell victim to _accidents_ such as these."said Haveitall shaking his head.

"So that´s why the Chief Detective was investigating personally."said Chichi thoughtfully.

"Yes. But he also did it as a special favour to me, being my father-in-law afterall."said Haveitall nodding his head.

The trio was completly stunned.

"Father...in...law?!"breathed out Lily.

"Yes, children. My Katherin´s maiden name was Wiseman. She was the youngest child of Sylvester Wiseman. Her two brothers Liam and George were also involved in these investigations."

Chichi was franticly looking from the mayor to Angela.

"That means detective Wiseman is your..."

Both of them nodded.

"Nephew, yes. And _my_ younger cousin."affirmed Angela.

Chichi, Phil and Lily merely sat there unable to believe it completly. Suddenly Lily remembered something.

"Why then are you adressing him detective Wiseman like everyone else."

Both of them smiled.

"Fred is just so much focused on being a good detective. He insisted, that everywhere other than in his house we adress him like everybody else. It just means so much to him."said Angela affectinately.

"When I took him in here, he also insisted to be treated like any other detective, I would hire. And I can´t really ignore his plea. He also wanted to keep his relation to us a secret, so I hope that this remains between us."explained Haveitall.

"You have to understand. Fred always wanted to live up to the family name. And he always said he would be a great detective just like his grandfather since he was 4 years old. We really want to make it come true to him. Also, uncle George was always a bit stern and placing high expectations on him and his siblings. Poor little Freddie always had it tough thanks to that. He is determined not to let his parents down and always wanted to prove to them and his siblings too, that he´s worthy of the Wiseman name. Eversince he was young, he was living in the shadow of his two brothers – Adam and Matthew and even his little sister Cecile now joined in the Law enforcement and is getting bigger results than him. And he was always a sweet boy. We just want to help him make it."said Angela.

A small silence followed. The trio looked at eachother and understood a lot of things, that were a small mystery to them eversince Wiseman was relocated to Beauvillage.

"George instructed me to be stern and firm with him and punish him heavily if he bungles something up. He said that harsh reality will make him see the truth. But I just can´t bring myself to do that and shatter his life-long dream."added Haveitall.

"What kind of a father is he?! To give up on his own son like that?!"exclaimed Lily angrily, their sympathies towards Wiseman increasing.

"Yeah! Instead of helping him make it! Just throwing him into the water and let him sink or swim!"added Phil who was equally angry.

"George is an old-school, hard discipline kinda fella. He ruled out earlier on, that Fred will never have what it takes to be a detective. He believes that only strong, disciplined people have what it takes to deal with crime in this country. And the Wiseman family was doing just that for generations."explained Haveitall.

"Still I can´t imagine a father who would simply cast away his son like that, instead of doing all he can to help him. Especially if its in family tradition."said Chichi shaking his head.

When he thought about his own father, the thought of him doing something like that was completly impossible. Instantly he appreciated all the more, that Jacob Tofu is his father.

"But to continue on, you want to know about Balthazar..."said Haveitall before continueing.

"To pick up where I left off, my parents died and I inherited the family business. A few weeks after my take-over, I was approached by a businessman named Evan Ripgrab. He was also a mayor of this town. He wanted to help me expand the business and build a factory in Beauvillage. I myself was intrigued by his offer and accepted the invitation to visit the town. The factory itself was supposed to have been built right where Beauvillage park is standing right now. At the time it was merely a part of the forest, but Ripgrab said that some of the place for the factory was already cleared. However when we returned to the site, it was completly grown with trees and plants. Ripgrab went into a fit of rage and shouted at the workers. But they told him, that they ran that area down with buldozers just yesterday unable to explain how it grew back in just a single night."

The mayor smiled a bit to himself as he remembered exactly what happened as he went on.

_-Flashback-_

"_HOW THE FUCK COULD IT HAPPEN?!"yelled a tall thin man with fair black hair and an equally black mustache, dressed in a business suit and on his feet were crocodile-skinned shoes. His name was Even Ripgrab and right now he was glaring hatefully at the workers as a great number of people was looking on as perplexed as the workers themselfs._

"_I...I have no idea, sir. I personally oversaw yesterday´s operation and I swear to you, that the area was leveled as planned."said the chief-worker shakingly._

"_That´s true, mayor. Me and my family looked on yesterday. It was completly leveled."said Luther Philips, who was standing among the crowd along with his wife and their 7 year old son Rodney._

"_HOW?! HOW?! HOW?!"he raged as he paced back and forward, with Johnatan and Katherine Haveitall watching as curiously as everyone else._

_Suddenly he turned sharply to the crowd as though expecting to find the explanation in there. _

"_YOOOOOU!"he exclaimed in pure hatered pointing at someone in the crowd._

_The crowd instantly parted and revealed an equally tall old man with a long white beard, which was twitching in obvious amusement his bright blue eyes twinkling. The man, Johnatan noted had a friendly face, though a bit ancient. But dispite his thinning white hair on his head and the long white beard, he couldn´t remember ever seeing a fitter, healthier-looking old man. He was dressed in a simple blue shirt with long sleeves and overall trousers and wore brown garden boots. He pointed to himself with his thumb and asked mildly._

"_What about me, Mr mayor?"_

"_YOU DID THIS! SOMEHOW YOU DID!"screamed Ripgrab, his mouth thick with foam._

_The man laughed openly._

"_Are you implying, that I somehow made the trees and vegetation grow back in a single night? And how exactly would I have been able to do so, I wonder."he said in obvious humor._

_The people also noticed this fact and chuckled a bit as well, but the laughter was quickly drowned by Ripgrab´s bellowing voice._

"_YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS YOU OLD WIZARD! WHO ELSE WOULD HAVE ANY REASON TO STOP THIS?!"_

_The old man sighed and looked at the people around._

"_The answer would be _everybody_. These poor people were not even informed about your plan to run down a part of the forest in favour of this _factory_ you plan to built."_

"_That´s true."said a 19 year old blonde boy named Maurice Morter, who was also standing among the crowd. Suddenly he was elbowed into his stomach by his girlfriend._

"_Will you shut the hell up you moron?!"hissed Melissa Ripgrab – the mayor´s daughter._

"_Balthazar is right mayor. None of us were informed of this factory."said Luther Philips and many people shouted in approval._

"_You had no authority to do such a thing, mayor Ripgrab."exclaimed Philip Conners standing there with his wife, who was standing there with a carrage, which held their 1 year old son and their 2 children – a 7 year old girl Marion and 4 year old boy Benjamin were standing near them._

"_THIS FOREST IS TOWN PROPERTY! AS MAYOR, I HAVE EVERY SINGLE AUTHORITY I NEED!"bellowed Ripgrab._

"Wrong_ mayor. Not without consulting the citizens first!"said Luther Philips folding his arms returning Ripgrab the glare he was recieving as the crowd went into another approving whoop._

"_And the forest belongs foremostly to the people of Beauvillage, not some _company_!"said the old bearded man also folding his arms._

"_Especially when we ourselfs will have nothing in return for it."said Terrence Workalot, who was among the crowd with his 7 year old son._

"_You will have a factory, which will provide jobs and profit into your pockets!"argued Ripgrab and the elderly woman – Mrs Longline standing close to the bearded man sniffed._

"_Most importantly _your_ pocket, Ripgrab! And at the cost of our enviroment. What a nice little _deal _this is!"her voice full of irony met with more approval from the crowd._

"_THAT´S NOT THE POINT YOU OLD HAG! HOW IN THE WORLD DO YOU PEOPLE EXPECT OUR TOWN TO PROSPER IF YOU INSIST ON SHACKLING IT TO THE DARK AGES?!"bellowed Ripgrab._

"_Insults are the weapon of the weak, mayor. No one here wants to keep Beauvillage caged in the past. But NOT at the cost of our enviroment."said the old man calmly, his arms still folded._

"_THE FUTURE IS **INDUSRTY**! AND FOR THAT WE NEED A **FACTORY**! YOU ARE LIVING IN A DREAM YOU **USELESS OLD FOOL**!"screamed Ripgrab pointing directly on the old man, who laughed to himself._

"_If the future of Beauvillage in partnership with its enviroment is a dream, then its a beautyfull one from which I never wish to wake up from. Much better than the industrial nightmare you keep insisting putting our humble little town trough. Morgereville was a nice place just 20 years back and your filthy industry transformed it into this horrifyingly ugly polluting den they now call _Megacity_. It would be an everlasting shame if we did the same."_

_The last part of the old man´s speech seemed to have gotten trough to the standing people and the workers as well._

"_The old man´s right, sir. I refuse to wreck this beautyfull forest."said the chief-worker._

_Ripgrab rounded on him._

"_THAN YOU´RE FIRED YOU SYMPATHETIC IDIOT!"_

_But the workers all lined behind their chief._

"_We won´t let you do that. We refuse to work, if you fire our boss."said one of them and the others imstantly nodded._

"_THEN YOU´RE ALL FIRED YOU USELESS BUNCH OF MORONS! I GIVE YOU A JOB AND THIS IS HOW YOU REPAY ME?! YOU THINK ITS HARD FOR ME?! I CAN HIRE ANOTHER GANG OF STUPID PRIMATES WITHIN THE HOUR!"he bellowed at them, but they stood their ground._

_As one, each of them threw down their helmets and tore down the logo of Ripgrab company. _

_Ripgrab however threw his head back and loosed a long hearty laugh._

"_YOU IDIOTS! YOU THINK THIS WILL STOP ME FROM BUILDING MY NEW FACTORY?!"he screamed for the whole forest to hear._

"_It _will_, mayor. Now that Balthazar let us in on your scheme, we will petition immediatly. And if you refuse to listen to it, we will simply take the matter up with the courts."threatened Luther Philips._

_The mayor looked as though he slapped him._

"_You...you can´t do this."_

"_YES WE CAN!"said the adults of the crowd collectively now along with the workers._

_Ripgrab loosed a scream of rage and fixed his hate-filled eyes on the old man._

"_YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS! MARK MY WORDS BUNGLEWOOD! ONE DAY YOU WILL PAY DEARLY AND **NOT** IN MONEY!"_

_Without another word, he turned and paced away in anger._

"_Hm...Pay in what exactly, I wonder. Noting else seems to interest him."said the old man with amusement._

"_Thank you very much, Balthazar. We would have no idea about this."said Luther Philips to him._

"_It was my duty, Luther."he said happily as the crowd began to leave. _

"_Old man? Why is the mayor acting this way?"asked Rodney looking curiously at him._

_Balthazar chuckled and got down on one knee to get to the boy´s eye-level. Placing a hand on his shoulder he said sagely._

"_The mayor wants only money, Rodney. At whatever cost. He is hungering after them so much, that he doesn´t pay attention to what or _who_ he hurts in the future."_

_The little boy looked with curious eyes._

"_Who?"he asked and Balthazar nodded._

"_Yes, Rodney. In chopping down the trees and replacing them with a smoking factory, he will damage this place. The trees which make oxygen in the air for us will be no more and in their place will be a building which will be letting out tons of carbon-dioxide into the air. You like breathing smoke, Rodney?"he asked patiently._

_Little Rodney thought about it and quickly shook his head._

"_No! Yuck!"he said sticking out his tounge as if to make a point._

"_Exactly. That´s why we must protect our trees. They are here for us and we have to repay them for that by protecting them."he explained and the little boy nodded in understanding._

_Luther and his wife chuckled at the scene._

"_You´re wierd, Balthazar. But I like you that way."he said appretiatively before they turned and started to walk away, Rodney nodding to him again before running after his parents._

"_That boy will be a very fine and wise man one day."he said to himself, his eyes on the boy as he chaught up with his parents, just as Mrs Longline approached him along with the Haveitall couple and Mr Beauely. _

"_Wow. Ripgrab sure went steaming from here. Nice job Balthazar."said Mr Beauely._

"_My pleasure."he replied._

"_By the way, the Zoo project we´re working on... I can still count on you?"Beauely asked._

"_Oh but of course. Its important that the youngsters of this little town will have a place to bond with our animal siblings. I was also thinking, when I was looking over this area – this would be a perfect place for a park one day since its between two neighbourhoods. It would be the perfect way of linking them together."said Balthazar thoughtfully._

_Beauely and Mrs Longline laughed at that._

"_Another project? Balthazar, _really_. One at a time, please."said Beauely in good humor. _

_Balthazar chuckled too, until his eyes fell on the young Haveitall couple._

"_I apologize for interfiering in your business deal."he said._

_Johnatan shook his head._

"_If the deal was supposed to be have done illegaly, I wish no part in it anyway. To be honest I would rather do something else than a factory. Something more worth-while. That idea with the park was a nice one. From what I have seen of Beauvillage, I positively fell in love with it. I would love to see it develop into something exceptional like you described."_

_Balthazar smiled._

"_Than why not help along? Together we may realize this beautyfull dream Mr..."_

_Johnatan quickly offered his hand._

"_Haveitall. Johnatan Haveitall. And this is my wife Katherine."she said indicating to his wife as the two men shook their hands._

"_Charmed. Bunglewood. Balthazar Bunglewood."_

_-End of Flashback-_

"We moved to Beauvillage a short while after that. I sold my father´s company and used the finances to procure land and start working with Balthazar, Beauely, Workalot and numerous others to make Beauvillage into what it is today. Sadly we haven´t always been as successfull. For instance, mayor Ripgrab succeeded in building the Chemical Works, which at one time poisoned Beauvillage Lake when they discarded their by-products into it on Ripgrab´s direct orders – he did not wish to pay for the disposal of the waste."

Lily´s hands went to her mouth in horror and the boys gasped unbelievingly.

"That´s horrible."whispered Phil.

"Not to mention _illegal_ as well."added Chichi.

"But another wonderous thing happened. The lake cleared up over night. The water next morning was as clear as it ever was. At that time I suspected, that Balthazar had something to do with it. When I asked him about it, he merely laughed and said mysteriously – "I have a few tricks up my sleeve.". But indeed at times, when we were very likely to fail, strange things like that happened. It was as though nature was somehow on our side. Wish it was on my side when Angie was born."said Haveitall with a sigh.

"What d´you mean?"asked Chichi curiously.

For a second they saw a tear roll from the mayor´s eye.

"My Katherin... she...died in childbirth."he said heavily.

"Oh my... sorry."whispered Lily and the boys nodded sadly.

"Its OK. I´ve come to terms with it a long time ago, my children. But the first months have been a living hell, but over that time Balthazar showed himself to be a true friend. He was often staying to help me and gave me a pick-me up, I desperately needed to take care of Angie. If it weren´t for him, I don´t know how I would manage. At that time, me, him and Mrs Longline were taking care of my baby girl. Well Mrs Longline mostly as she was teaching _us_ – the two of us were pretty much hopeless and it amused her to no end. Thanks to them I was able to live on. And look at the wonderfull woman my daughter grew into."he said grabbing her by the hand and smiling at her, her face sporting the same happy smile, though her eyes were full of tears.

"Wow. Bunglewood was one hell of a friend."whistled Phil, impressed.

"True blue."added Lily nodding.

"Mr Mayor, and what about your election."asked Chichi, hoping to avoid another sensitive subject.

"Well that came when Angie turned three. At the time Ripgab was pushing heavily to build a car-factory after the mysterious death of one of the biggest car company owners. Ripgrab was to become the president of a car company which was to rival the said company. But for that he needed the factory here. A massive factory at that. And after that attempt to run down the forest, when the bulldozers litteraly fell apart before our own eyes...

_-Flashback-_

"_Have any of you _ever_ seen something like that?"asked Luther Philips as they rowed the boat on Beauvillage lake._

"_Never. I mean I would expect machines to corrode like that after years or decades but _overnight_?!"Terrence Workalot shook his head._

"_D´you really think, it might be like Ripgrab was yelling and Balthazar _actually_ made those bulldozers corrode?"asked Philip Conners, whose desease was starting to affect his appearance since last year, however it did very little to dull the person he is._

"_How? Magic?"said Beauely skepticly._

"_You know, I´ve been wondering... what if it works? Green sorcery I mean."wondered Haveitall as they neared the island on Beauvillage Lake, Balthazar´s house coming more into view._

"_Oh come on, Johnatan. Fairy tales are nice, but this is real life."said Workalot shaking his head._

"_Green Magic or not. Ripgrab has crossed the line for the last time."grumbled Luther as they came ashore. _

_As they got off the boat they took a good look at the lighted house. _

"_Now that I think about it, this is the very first time in all these years that I´ve been to Balthazar´s house."said Luther almost in awe._

"_I guess this just shows how bad the situation has become."said Beauely as they got to the door. _

_The door was magnificent. Big, cut from oakwood, it had several animals and symbols, which none of them were familiar with carved into it. Looking from one to the other Luther, Johnatan, Workalot, Beauely and Philip knocked. A small sound of footsteps was heared and the door was opened. In it stood a well built teenage boy with a friendly face, long red hair and dark green eyes. Loosely dressed in black trousers, black turtle-neck sweater, black sneakers on his feet and the ever present necklace lined with mineral stones around his neck – something for which he was constantly the envy of his peers. At the sight of them he smiled._

"_Good. You´re all here. We´ve been waiting."he said politely letting them in._

"_Thanks Zeke. Where´s Balthazar?"asked Luther as Ezekiel closed the door, but not before looking from one side to the other. _

"_In the study. C´mon."he gestured to the long hallway, which was filled with doors._

_All five men noticed, that something is not right with the teenage boy._

"_Did something happen, Zeke? You seem quieter than ussual."asked Luther as they went. _

"_No nothing."he answered briskly as they continued to walk._

_The men were looking curiously from wall to wall, which had several paintings and wooden carvings of animals, places none of them recodnized and which as they knew were made by Balthazar himself. The hallway also held a few life-sized statues of people in cloaks and some of them had animal heads instead of human ones. It was dimly lighted, since the source of light were candles placed on some of the carvings. But it seemed to have played a small trick of light, for the brightly colored mineral stones in the eyes of the statues seemed to glow, giving the hallway a...well magical apprearance. Ezekiel directed them towards the door to the right and knocked before they all entered Balthazar´s library study. The men instantly gasped. The study was huge. It held several shelfs stocked with books and four tables, on the four sides of the room with a fifth one in the middle at which sat Balthazar reading a heavy book. Noticing them his face broke into a happy smile as he regarded them._

"_Matilda couldn´t make it?"he asked noticing someone missing in there._

"_Mrs Longline is at my place babysitting Angie, Balthazar. She´s only five afterall."said Johnatan apologeticly._

"_Of course. The precious little caterpillar shouldn´t be left alone even on nights pretty as these."he said nodding to himself with a smile. _

"Secreta naturae?_ What´s that?"asked Philip eyeing the book. _

"_Its in latin, Phil. Its quite old too. Almost 200 years. It was passed down to me by my mentor who raised me before he died – as all of you know by now, I´m an orphan just like Zeke here. And this book is very special. You see it gets passed down trough the generations and each and every owner of it has added his bits and pieces of knowledge into it and also commented the knowledge of its predecessors."_

_Luther chuckled a bit._

"_More green rituals, Balthazar?"he asked in good humor._

"_Something like that. Right, Zeke?"he grinned, looking at his young charge. _

"_Right."he replied without emotion, sitting down at the table._

"_Ok. Let´s call this meeting to order. As I already said on the boat, Ripgrab has crossed the final line. Something needs to be done about him."started Luther._

"_Something to make him pay for his arogance towards our enviroment."said Ezekiel crossly. _

"_First we should concetrate on removing him from power so that he will not be able to cause so much harm."said Balthazar silencing the young teen. _

"_This _could_ be done. The re-election term is approaching next week."noted Beauely. _

"_And no one challenged him for the post in more than two decades."reminded Workalot._

"_Not to mention, that people are getting tired of his little schemes. Plus the way he treats them, the pompous arogant prick."added Philip scratching his once light-red hair, which was now almost pure white from both age and the disease._

"_That too. I have spoken with some of the citizens and I guess the time is right for a change. For instance, the people would like nothing more, than to close the Chemical Works for good, not to mention the other smaller firms from other towns in Beauvillage. They are very well aware how much they are exploited now."said Luther._

"_The way I see it, only someone with holdings in Beauvillage could challenge him. Also the person has to be connected to some of the businessmen of this town and I suppose some finance will be needed to get the town´s business to push out these _leeches_."said Balthazar thoughtfully. _

_Suddenly Ezekiel got up from the table._

"_A game of politics, which will solve _nothing_. It will be leeching one way or the other. This is pointless."he said shocking them all as he turned from the table to the door._

"_I´ll be in my room if you need me."he said emotionlessly before exiting the study._

_A moment of silence followed as the men tried to puzzle out what happened. Ezekiel was much like Balthazar when it came to Beauvillage. As powerfull as Balthazar when opposing the mayor since he turned 10. The sudden change of opinion was chilling. Not to mention that he always got along with anything Balthazar suggested. As they looked on him, they were surprised again. The normally cheerfull Balthazar Bunglewood was looking sadly at the table, as though his heart was breaking with every single moment._

"_Balthazar, what´s going on? What´s up with Zeke?"asked Luther hurriedly. _

_Balthazar seemed not to notice the question right away. He seemed to be locked inside some world of his, his bright blue eyes looking haunted by something._

"_Balthazar?"Johnatan spoke up and Balthazar snapped back into reality._

"_Oh.. Zeke... a bad case of teenage rebelion, I´m afraid. A _very_ bad case indeed..."_

_He ran the palms of his hands on his face before continuing._

"_But anyway. Ripgrab. As I was saying, only someone with proper connections can succeed him. Fortunatly we have two such men on our side. You, Terrence and you, Johnatan."he said gesturing to the two men. _

"_Us? After all the work you put in for the town? _You_ should be the mayor, Balthazar."said Johnatan hurriedly. _

_Balthazar laughed and once more seemed to be the Balthazar Bunglewood they all knew. _

"_Very flattering, Johnatan. But I am too old for such a position I´m afraid. Not that I´m preparing myself into the grave, but I believe Beauvillage needs someone younger than me in charge. Not to mention, how would it look if our town had a _crazy old wizard_ for a mayor."he said humorously, knowing full well the rumors going about him. _

_The men chuckled too._

"_I find it highly unfair, that you – a man dedicated to the town, who helped build some of its highlights is content with a job of a night watchman in Beauvillage´s museum of Natural History. Especially when you could´ve retired 10 years ago."said Johnatan shaking his head. _

_Balthazar grinned._

"_Let´s just say, that the job has a _certain_ appeal for a person like me."he said mysteriously._

_The men laughed once more._

"_Yup. You´re a wierdo."exclaimed Philip happily. _

"_That I am. But one would think, that you´ve gotten used to it after all these years." _

_He cleared his throat before continuing._

"_Anyway. One of you has to be it."_

_Both Workalot and Johnatan looked at eachother. _

"_Well, I am the head of a big firm and I do hope to pass it to my son a few years later, though I think he´s too greedy for his own good. But all in all, I think Johnatan would be a better choice."said Workalot looking at Johnatan who started stammering._

"_Y... you..."_

"_You´ve got my vote, buddy."said Philip earnestly._

"_Mine too."nodded Beauely._

"_I agree as well. You´re popular, Johnatan, you have a gift for speech and that makes you the perfect candidate."said Luther analyticly._

"_B...but really."_

"_Johnatan. For the past decade we at this table worked tirelessly to rid Beauvillage of Ripgrab´s corrupt and eco-devastating practices and transform Beauvillage into the peacefull town we all wish it to be, for the sake of the youngsters who will soon grow up into adults. Even if no one really knows about this and I very much prefer it that way. Only the result matters. And now we´re closer to our goal than we´ve ever been before. _This _is our time. The time for _change_. And no one but _you_ can make it happen."said Balthazar._

_Johnatan thought about it._

"_I´m not so sure my friends. I mean, I get distracted easily and at times I think that some of the things you, Balthazar take for pollution can be helpfull."_

_Balthazar smiled. _

"_No one is asking you to be all-ecological, Johnatan. All that I ask is, that you will never forget where you came from and what you fought for..."_

_-End of Flashback-_

"...and so I accepted and the next week after that meeting, won the election by a landstorm. I know, that I have not always been the most eco-friendly, your parents could definitely agree on that Chichi, but I did exactly as Balthazar wanted. Never once did I forget what we fought for. That´s why I try to make Beauvillage exceptional but not trough big business, but rather trough the lives of its citizens. That´s why I always make celebrations and contests to raise its popularity. And I _always_ put high emphasis on getting you young ones involved, just like we dreamed it happening."finished Haveitall and left a moment´s silence linger.

The young trio was stunned. It explained everything. The chemical works closed down and replaced by an aquapark, the zoo, the park, the swimming center in downtown Beauvillage, the hot-rod race, the various contests and conventions, the very reason why any worthwhile project or contest is organized with the mayor´s blessing – everything fits. Phil, Lily and Chichi now really understood what a role Balthazar Bunglewood played in the history of Beauvillage.

"Wow, Dad. Even I didn´t know all that. Guess ol´Balthazar´s page on our town´s history website needs major uploading."said Angela in wonder.

"He was one of the greatest men, I´ve ever known my sweet children."said Haveitall with a small sigh.

"Mr Mayor... even at the risk of touching on a sensitive spot, what can you tell us about his dissapearance? Also didn´t Evan Ripgrab die two weeks after it happened?"asked Chichi.

Mayor Haveitall nodded and sighed deeply.

"You have no idea, what a dark time it was. Possibly the darkest days of Beauvillage..."

_-Flashback-_

"_No sighn of him, Johnatan. My men searched trough entire Beauvillage plus his house."said detective George Wiseman, sitting down at the table on the opposite end of which was seated the one and a half month freshly elected mayor Haveitall, his head in his hands looking as though he haven´t slept for days._

"_He can´t have just vanished into thin air, George. He just can´t have..."he said in a desperate voice._

"_Of course he can´t have... but Johnatan, we have absolutely no clues. Nothing. Nothing to grasp on."said detective Wiseman in a sympathetic voice as he looked worriedly at his brother in law._

"_Do you know of anyone in Beauvillage, who had something against him? Any enemies?"he asked._

"_The only enemy he had was Evan Ripgrab."said Johnatan hopelessly._

"_I know. We questioned him already. I interogated him personally in fact. While I agree, that the man is one of the most vile and arogant people I have ever had the misfortune to meet, he has an alibi for the supposed time of the dissapearance. In the day of the dissapearance and two days after it, he was spending time at his daughter´s house. She and her husband testified too, claiming that he didn´t set a foot out of the house for the entire time."_

_He took a small sip from the glass of water his brother in law gave him before continuing._

"_Also it seems, that the museum theft is related to it. All the evidence points to him, Johnatan I´m sorry. It looks that he made off with that junk from the museum and took it with him who knows where."_

_Mayor Haveitall shook his head violently. _

"_NO George! He would never steal! I _knew_ him for crying out loud."he exclaimed._

"_I´m sorry. But without any leads to follow, that the way it´ll be ruled out, whether we´re family or not. I´ve done all I could Johnatan, I swear. But sometimes even the great Wiseman´s efforts are just not enough. He´s on the missing person list."said George with finality._

_Johnatan sighed deeply, trying to stop himself from crying._

"_You´ve tried George and I´m very gratefull for that. Let´s go then. The people have gathered in front of the City Hall and reporters are awaiting the explanation."he said standing up along with his brother in law._

"_Look, this is not a single case. There are also the mysterious deaths of several business hunchos over the years which were left unsolved just like this."said George as they walked down the hall._

"_I know. My parents included."replied the mayor sadly._

"_Yes. And even my _father_ – the great Chief detective Sylvester Wiseman wasn´t able to solve this dispite his best efforts and years of extensive investigating. Something like this isn´t easy you know."said George in his defence as they opened the door._

_Instantly they were greeted by an eager crowd. Almost every adult in Beauvillage was present. Luther Philips and Philip Conners went instantly to his side._

"_Well? Good news?"asked Philip breathlessly._

_Johnatan shook his head sadly and both Luther and Philip gasped in shock before lowering their gaze to the pavement, their expressions extremly sad._

"_Mayor Haveitall...can you comment this dissapearance?"asked one of the reporters as the mayor stood behind the speakers._

_Taking a deep breath he prepared himself to announce one of the hardest things he had to say in his life. _

"_Ladies and gentlemen, citizens of Beauvillage. As you have no doubt have heared...two weeks ago one of our oldest and most known citizen – Balthazar Bunglewood has vanished from the face of the Earth without a single trace..."_

_He was cut off by a loud laughter from the back of the crowd. Evan Ripgrab was standing there along with his daughter Melissa and his son-in-law Maurice. Ripgrab and his daughter were laughing openly, while Maurice looked uncomfortable as though he would rather be anywhere else._

"_Beauvillage is finally free from that old warlock."shouted Ripgrab extremly pleased._

"_Serves the wierdo right."added Melissa Morter derisively._

_Mayor Haveitall took another deep breath and pretended not to notice._

"_...our city´s police department along with detective Wiseman have searched extensively trying in vain to locate him to no avail. Although it has been suggested that the recent theft at our Museum of Natural History is related to his dissapearance..."_

"_HA! THIEF! Always knew he wasn´t right in the head."shouted Ripgrab._

"_Will you shut the hell up, Ripgrab?!"retaliated Luther._

"_Yeah! Who cares about some dumb old fossils anyway?!"added Philip angerly._

"_Siding with him?! You two were probably his acomplices in the theft!"shouted Melissa._

_The mayor took hold of the microphone and to break the argument continued more loudly._

"_...I refuse to believe it! Most of you knew Balthazar Bunglewood as a kind-hearted, hard-working citizen, though eccentric. But Balthazar Bunglewood dedicated his life and soul to this humble town and especially to its enviroment, viewing it as a precious treasure meant to be passed down to the next generation. The park, the zoo, the statues he made himself and dedicated to our beloved Beauvillage, all of it was meant to be passed down in equal manner. He placed his hopes into our children even taking care of an orphaned boy, giving him a home, education and most importaintly a parent´s love – which I as a parent understand the importance of. He was without a moment´s doubt one of the greatest citizens this town has ever had and I hope and prey, that one day in the future __**this**__ Beauvillage, __**his**__ Beauvillage, __**our**__ Beauvillage will once more be graced by people as kind-hearted and well-meaning as he himself was. Though as he always said, it is up to us – adults to make sure, such people will grow up from our children. As long as they do, his hope, his life, his dream, his _Beauvillage_ will live on forever."_

_The end of the speech was met with silence and some of the people – Luther, Philip, Beauly, Workalot, teenagers among which was a 17 year old Rodney Philips, were sporting tears in honor of ol´Bunglewood._

"_Blah, blah, blah... gimme a break wierdo-lovers."said Melissa scratchingly._

_Evan Ripgrab loosed a humorless laugh, which carried across the streets._

"_You are wrong, Haveitall. That dream is dead. I´ll make _sure_ of it. The era of Balthazar Bunglewood has finally come to an end."he said before drawing that laugh again._

_Mayor Haveitall sighed heavily as the laugh carried on. Suddenly however it stopped. In a second it was replaced by loud frantic coughing. Everybody looked at the three and saw, that Evan Ripgrab was on his knees, coughing violently with both Melissa and Maurice at his side looking scared._

"_Father! Father! What´s wrong?!"screamed Melissa._

"_...burns...my...body...burns..."he managed to say between the coughs._

_Suddenly his body stiffened and a second later he started vomitting. In a second the pavement was sprayed in deep red blood. The crowd gasped neither dared to make a move as Evan Ripgrab belched a second and a third time, blood spraying on the ground as though he was mortally wounded._

"_...that...that...that..."he was trying to say as he was catching his breath, desperately gasping for air._

"_...Bunglewood...YOU OLD WIZARD!"he screamed for the whole street to hear and the crowd gasped in horror as he raised his face and they could see it. _

_Blood was gushing our from his, mouth, ears, nose and eyes as though he was wounded completly everywhere. The moment when he shouted, something seemed to have struck him and he started vomitting blood again. As he stopped, he raised his head again, looked at the town hall and fell on the ground, where he was shaking an twitching while still oozing large ammounts of blood._

"_CALL AN AMBULANCE!"shouted Maurice as he and Melissa knelt besides him and the crowd started to hurry towards them._

_It was chaos. People shouted, screamed, panicked as they ran about looking at the bloodied body of their former mayor. Detective Wiseman wasted not a moment, instantly running into the Town Hall to the nearest phone. Mayor Haveitall also hurried off the stage, acompanied by Luther and Philip._

"_No Green magic, huh?!"breathed Philip to Luther as the three ran towards Ripgrab._

"_Ok. This time I believe you, Phil."said Luther completly shocked. _

_They reached Ripgrab, who was still twitching on the ground mumbling something to himself._

"_Father, please hold on! PLEASE!"screamed Melissa, her eyes full of tears but Ripgrab barely took any notice of her._

"_...Bunglewood...the...gemstone...B...Bnglwd...Bu..Bungle...Bunglewood..."he kept muttering to himself his bloodied face completly indifferent to what was going on around him. _

"The ambulance is on its way._"the voice of George Wiseman was heared from the stage´s microphones. _

"_The ambulance will be here shortly, Evan. Hold on...you´re gonna be alright."said mayor Haveitall to his onetime enemy, though at the moment he felt no enmity towards him at all._

_Suddenly Ripgrab´s expression changed drasticly. As though hearing something no one else did, he turned his head slightly to his right side, where no one was standing. Instantly his body started shaking, his facial expression turning to one of indescribable fear and he let out a terrified scream, which was heared trough all of Beauvillage._

"_...no...no...NOOOO! Can´t...be...not...possible...NOOO!"he screamed and started to jerk uncontrolably, trying to move on his back as though escaping from something with every single breath left in his body. _

"_Father! Don´t move!"screamed Melissa, but to no avail. _

_The bloodied man, was actually moving backwards on his back, his eyes full of fear looking at something. The mayor, Luther and Phil looked at the same direction to find out what could possible arouse such fear in the man but only to find nothing there other than thin air.  
_

_"There´s nothing there..."breathed Luther completly bewildered._

_Ripgrab however didn´t seem to share that opinion. Still struggling as though his very life depended on it._

"_...no...please...leave...me...alone...don´t...wanna...die...please...stop..."he struggled to say even as he was spitting out large ammounts of blood. _

_He was shaking his head violently from side to side as though signaling "no" to something, his expression of horror increasing as he muttered on._

"_...no...Bungle...stay...from...away...from...me...please...no...no...NOOOOOOOOOO!"_

_The last shout was so loud, that many had to cover their ears. Positively earsplitting, Ripgrab shouted the last word a few octaves higher than many thought were humanly possible. Suddenly his body froze and stayed absolutely still, his mouth and eyes still open in their terryfied scream. But now only silence followed._

"_Father...?FATHER!"screamed Melissa, rushing to his body, but was held back by her husband._

"_Lemme go you stupid moron!"she screamed as she trashed around in her husband´s hold._

"_No Mel. What if you catch it too."he reasoned, trying desperately to restrain his wife._

_Luther looked at everyone before kneeling down at the limp body. Carefully pressing his fingers at Ripgrab´s exposed neck, he maintained that position before withdrawing his hand and sighing._

"_I´m afraid its too late for any kind of help. He´s dead."he said sadly._

"_NOOOO! FAATHER!"shouted and screamed Melissa, who broke down in her husband´s arms as the ambulance arrived._

_-End of Flashback-_

"...the doctors kept running around Beauvillage for five days fearing some sort of epidemic. Luckily no one chaught, whatever killed him. Within the next few hours after that incident, rumors started to spread, that Balthazar´s ghost killed Ripgrab and since that time nearly everyone in Beauvillage didn´t dare approach his house. It was left in its original state and I strictly prohibited any investigations in it."

Chichi and Phil were shaking in fear, while Lily looked skeptical.

"What d´you think might´ve killed him, Mr Mayor?"she asked.

Mayor Haveitall looked thoughtfull for a moment before he answered.

"Does it really matter? Green sorcery or a mysterious disease? As Balthazar often said – Only the result matters. And since Balthazar´s dissapearance and Ripgrab´s death nothing similar happened in Beauvillage. It ended up being a quiet little town. Perhaps too quiet, something the Tofus quickly remedied – you brought a sence of interesting life back into Beauvillage."he said chuckling to himself.

"Do we really remind you that much of Balthazar, mayor?"asked Chichi curiously.

"Well...in a way yes. Your family is ecologicly-minded and well meaning dispite their...well...interesting ideas at times. On the other hand you have your own..._style_ shall we say. But much like Balthazar himself, you are prepared to set aside any differences or immediate goals if it can help someone else. Much like you yourself did Chichi, when you rescued me from drowning in that polluted water at the Aqua Park opening, three years ago. I haven´t forgotten. And not to mention, that bright little youngsters like you three are _exactly_ what Balthazar would´ve wanted for Beauvillage."he said standing up and looking out the window at the very place, where Evan Ripgrab died 20 years ago.

"I wonder...perhaps you three will be able to do, what two generations of detective Wisemen failed to do. I can´t help but feel that all of those cases have a connection."he said thoughtfully, thinking about Balthazar, Katherine and his parents.

"We´ll try to do our best Mr Mayor. You have my word."said Lily, her face shining with determination, which brought a smile to Phil´s face, while Chichi nodded.

"I am so relieved to hear that my dear. I know that I, Angie, Luther and Rodney Philips and Matilda Longline would love to know what happened to our dear friend. Your grandfather too, Phil. I am so sad, that he did not live to see this day. But I am sure, that he would´ve been very proud of you."he said, still gazing at the window.

Phil looked at the floor with a sad smile.

"Thank you, mayor."he said in a small voice.

Lily instantly placed her arm around his shoulder consolingly.

Unbeknowst to anybody in the room however, the conversation was eavesdropped from the moment it began. Nick was at the door, the device given to him by detective Wiseman for just such situations glued on his ear and jacked into the small tape recorder.

"_I´ve heared all I needed to hear. Wait ´till big brother Frederick hears about this._"he thought as he silently crept down the hall and once sure that he wasn´t going to be heared sprang into a hurried sprint, rushing down the stairs racing across the building past a cleaner, who was busy wiping the floor.

"Hey, boy! Watch out for the floor, its just been washed, its still..."said the cleaner, trying to warn him, but too late.

Nick´s feet slipped and Nick was sliding towards the door, his arms flying wildly as he was trying to maintain some balance as he was picking up speed. With a loud crash, Nick collided with the double-door leading outside, his face plastered on the glass, slowly and loudly slipping down as Nick was sliding towards the ground just as the cleaner finished what he was trying to say.

"...slippery."

...

**A/N**: Woah. Ok the longest chapter I´ve made so far. My apologies, I just couldn´t stop writing. :D Well, to overview, I ended up including flashbacks which weren´t exactly planned. But in the very least it gave me room to tell some of the backstories for instance the populistic mayor Haveitall – in the cartoon I considered him to be who would do anything to please his voters. As I looked trough it, he never once made a move against the Tofus and he seemed to be kinda goofy to me. Well, I wanted to add a bit of depth to the character, so...here we go – mayor´s backstory. Plus the daughter of the mayor, Angela...well she was kinda on plan but it changed over the course of writing. She was originally intended to be a love interest for Wiseman, but as it happened I found a much "worthier" candidate (Great Oneness, help her :D). Concerning the character of Lily, Lola and Billy´s history teacher – Mrs Melissa Morter, I also made the backstory for her on a mere whim. I allowed myself to be inspired by the saying of one of our Slovak screenwriters, who just now made a new sitcom and he was saying that every bad character has to have something hidden underneath, something which is the reason for it to be so bad. And though Mrs Morter in her youth would be something like Cherie or Mia, I really don´t think anyone should see their parent die in front of them, much less in such a gruesome way. So I can´t really blame her for hating Bunglewood. Now onwards to ol´Balthazar. This was a brilliant possibility for me to really breathe life to a character mentioned in the cartoon, yet not even seen. At certain points of writing those flashbacks I wondered a few times – "You´ve been reading too much Darth Plagueis again!", but I´m very happy with the character I made out of Bunglewood. The flashbacks also gave me a rare oppoturnity to try out something I wanted – return to Beauvillage 20 years ago. And there were characters, we know from the show. For instance – the 7 year old Mr Workalot (Pop´s boss), Mr Philips as a child, Mrs Morter as a teenager and young woman, also Phil´s grandfather and the 1 year old baby in the carrage was Phil´s _father_. I always imagined that not all of the citizens of Beauvillage could´ve moved into the town – some had to be long time residents. Also I thought showing where and why Phil got his birthname from. Also, giving Wiseman a sort of a backstory, just so people understang the Wiseman family cop-clan. One would almost feel sorry for Wiseman, but as I said it explains where he comes from. I imagine that there´s a black sheep in every family and this one has apparently too high expectations. But I think there can be something I can do to remedy that too, though I don´t want to do it too soon. Btw the name of the book, that Bunglewood had was in latin, and it means - Secrets of Nature.

All in all I think I´m tangling it up too much, with way too many clues and events, but its a _Great Mystery_ afterall. I hope you guys out there will have as much fun reading it, as I had writing it (up to the wee hours of morning I may add :D).

HK07


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Saturday mornings in Beauvillage were always calm and peacefull.

"_CROOOOOOOOW!_"

"OOOOUUUUCHHHH!"

"DAMN THIS STUPID WORK!"

Unless you were a part of the Hubbub – Tofu household that is...

"JAAAKE! SHUT THE STUPID THING DOWN ALREADY!"called Titus as the mechanical arms of the new prototype alarm were holding him by the throat.

"I CAN´T TITUS! I´M TOO FAR AWAYYYY!"screamed Pop in equal situation.

The mechanical arms had both men by their throats, throwing them up and down while the rooster was jumping from one side to the other, crowing non-stop, its amulet on his head shifting from side to side.

"Cracker, shut it down, fast!"screamed Pop to no avail, for the rooster was too confused to do anything other than crow once more.

As the enhabitants of the two houses rushed to their yards still in their pyjamas, Chichi – still barefooted, in his boxers and a red t-shit immediatly grasped the situation, swiftly jumping over the Tofu-Hubbub fence, evading the mechanical hands trying to grasp him and reaching the single red button on the machine holding the two men. Pressing it, the machine instantly gave out a sound of the power being turned down and the mechanical arms fell to the ground, the ones holding Pop and Titus lessening their hold on their necks allowing the two men to fall to the ground.

"Thanks... son..."said Pop, who was busy gasping for air on his knees.

"Yeah!... Thanks...Chichi!"gasped Titus in equal relief.

"My precious oaktree, are you all right?!"screamed Mom as she approached the three early risers.

"What in the world were you two doing?!"screamed Beth as she too approached from the other side.

"Testing the new alarm, Beth. Jake here had the idea, that the burglar should be held until the police arrived..."explained Titus as the two women scrowled.

"We didn´t however think trough the other part. The arms grab whatever they reach..."added Pop, as Chichi looked at the small source the arms were connected to, while Cracker flew and perched on his shoulder.

"Are you two_ insane_?! You could´ve _died_ in this!"chastized Beth looking at the two still gasping for breath.

"If you ask me, you two overdid it on power in here. Jeez, this could power a _race-bike_, much less a bunch of mechanical arms."said Chichi examining the source of the machine, suddenly brighting up as though getting an incredible idea.

"The point was, that no burglar would escape this, Chichi."said Pop as Mom stood to his side and folded her arms glaring at him.

"Unless you want to hand a dead body or _bodies_ to the police, I suggest you two tone it down a bit."said Chichi in a professional voice eying the two gasping men, who were slowly getting to their feet.

"C´mon, son. The idea..."started Pop, but he quickly picked up on the look his wife was giving him and fell silent.

"I think our son is right, _Jacob_."she said crossly and Pop cowered, for Mom only used his name when she was either very happy or very annoyed.

"But... but... but dandylion..."

"NO JACOB! Chichi is _right_! You two should _really_ rethink this _wild_ idea of yours!"said Beth just as crossly also folding her arms.

"But... but Beth...!"started Titus, but cowered just as quickly under his wife´s menacing glare.

"Jeez! Can´t we have a _normal_ saturday morning in this yard for a change?!"remarked Lola speepily as she was pressing her palm to her forehead, as she and Buba were standing on the edge of the fence.

"Wouldn´t be opposed to it."said Billy also approaching the fence to say good morning to his girlfriend.

"Definitely. _Great Oneness!_ Those two are even worse than Chichi and Phil."commented Buba watching the two women chastizing their husbands.

"Uh..._no_ Buba..._believe_ me, they´re not."said Lola.

"Hey!"protested Chichi turning around and glaring his sister.

"Well, this place sure is lively in the morning."said a voice coming from the street.

Lily and Phil were standing from the other side of the yard looking at the entire sitation in confusion.

"What are you two doing here so early in the morning?"asked Lola.

"We were supposed to meet half an hour ago."said Phil reproachfully glaring at Chichi.

"Sorry, I overslept."he said sheepishly, scratching his head as Phil and Lily glared him.

"Autumn biorythm I expect, my morning sparrows."said Mom cheerfully, defending her precious son, hugging him from the behind as the boy in question smiled brightly.

...

Phil, Chihi and Lily were slowly sitting down in Chichi´s room.

"By the way, where´s Miles?"asked Lily as Chichi was putting on his clothes, carefully hidden from view courtesy of his cupboard´s door.

"Why d´you ask?"asked Phil, eyeing Lily in suspition.

"Oh...I just thought I might run into him here, that´s all."she answered, her cheeks reddening a bit.

Lily´s explanation caused Phil to narrow his eyes, while Chichi closed the door, now fully dressed.

"He went to spend the night at Roger´s place. They were having their ussual Friday night."said Chichi.

"Which means?"asked Phil, raising his eyebrow.

"Lots of drinking. He´s probably sick as a dog right now, sleeping it all off."explained Chichi snickering to himself.

"Why do I get the feeling, that you and Don happily joined them during your summer in Megacity."said Lily slyly, giggling.

Chichi blushed.

"Anyway, I spent the majority of the night reading the _Wizard´s guide to Green sorcery_. _That´s_ why I overslept."he said quickly avoiding the previous subject.

"Oooh...what was it about?"asked Lily, eager to hear about the subject.

"Weeell... it had many rituals listed into it. The _soil renewal ritual_ included of course, but I grasped that the book didn´t tell all on the subject of Green Magic. I also found a few references to the Sucellus Cult, though I have no idea what could that be. All in all, I can´t shake the feeling that this book was supposed to be something of a garden – helper using this Green sorcery."

"_Sucellus Cult_? I´ve never heared of it..."said Lily thinking to herself.

"Neither have I. Well it looks like my computer is going to get some _excersize_."said Phil grinning to himself.

"Well, I have asked my Dad for the sculptures Balthazar left behind and I have them marked on the map. We can take a look at them before we interview Mrs Longline."said Lily nodding proudly.

"Perhaps they´ll hold some clues to him."said Phil, looking at Lily excitedly.

Suddenly Chichi´s door opened and in came Lola.

"Mom says that breakfast is ready. What are you three plotting here anyway?"she asked looking suspitiously at her best friend.

"Nothing."came the simultanious responce from the three.

Lola gave them a look which said quite plainly that she didn´t believe it before she huffed, turning her back on them.

"Anyway, come on down. Mom and Beth have the breakfast already fixed."

Chichi snickered.

"As long as it´s not _Dandylion-meat surprise_ like last time. If that´s the case, then leave me out."

Lola chuckled too.

"With how mad they are at Pop and Titus, I very much doubt they would have the mood for experimenting in the kitchen right now."

Chichi breathed out of relief. Indeed the Saturdays ussualy hosted Beth in the kitchen and as she and Mom couldn´t decide what to cook for breakfast they ended up mixing many recipies with their cooking habits which meant, that the remainders of the two families ended up being guinea-pigs for their concoctions. Well, except Miles, who would gradually eat anything edible.

Breakfast was a quiet affair. Well with Pop and Titus quietly eating, looking like little children after the royal-style scolding they just got, Mom and Beth glaring at them all the way, Buba, Lily, Phil, Chichi, Billy and Lola were also quietly eating not wanting to say anything to provoke the the women´s wrath. Chichi decided to be the ice-breaker, finding the silence unbearable.

"Has anyone seen April by the way? She´s the only one from the group missing in here."

"I saw her just yesterday Chichi. She and her two friends were going to the Beauvillage Park. She said, that they were going to read some novel or something like that."answered Beth, digging in happily.

"Nice to see you´re worried about her, Chichi."said Lola slyly, winking at her best friend, while her own boyfriend chuckled at the remark.

Chichi´s cheeks turned red again.

"Jeez sis, I just noticed that we´re all here and she´s not, that´s all."he defended himself.

"_Riiiight_."said Lola in a skeptical voice and Chichi´s blush deepened.

"MOOOM!"he turned to his mother, only to find her trying hard to restrain her giggles.

"POOOP!"he turned to his father, but noticed that he was too busy looking ashamed of himself as he was quietly eating, though with a small smile.

"BILLY!"he turned to his sister´s boyfriend – the only other person who could get her to stop.

But Billy was also too busy holding his chuckles, his palm firmly against his mouth.

"Sorry...Chichi..."he said between them.

"LILY! PHIL!"he turned desperately to his friends for support, only to find them sporting smirks.

"Not saying anything, pal."said Phil idly, though sporting a sheepish grin.

"_C´mon_ Chichi, admit it...You _miss_ her."said Lily teasingly.

Chichi´s face was now as red as a tomato.

"BUBA!"he asked pleadingly looking at his grandmother.

"Stop teasing Chichi everyone..."she started and Chichi´s expression relaxed.

"...he only wishes to have breakfast with the precious girl, that´s all."

Chichi banged his head on the table.

"_I _really _**hate**__ Saturday morning breakfast!_"thought Chichi as a loud round of laughter was heared in the kitchen of the Tofu house – even the animals joining in.

...

"_Aaachooo!_"sneezed April as she and her classmates made their way towards the circle in the Beauvillage park they were at yesterday.

"Bless you."said Liam.

"Thanks. This is the _ninth_ time I sneezed. Wonder what that means."said April in thought.

"Some people say, that when you sneeze so much, someone is mentioning you."said Oliver, smiling good-naturedly.

"_Or_ is really, REALLY thinking about you."added Chloe and April went red.

"You...you really think...?"she stammered.

Chloe laughed and threw herself on April, grabbing her in a gentle headlock.

"Prehaps your _lover-boy_ is missing his beloved girl."she whispered and April´s blush deepened.

"Y...you think?"stammered April once more.

"Of course. Dispite what Mia says April, I see no reason why your precious Chichi honey-bun wouldn´t fall for you. Just be yourself and you´ll see. He´ll be asking your hand in marriage in no time."said Chloe grinning as April went completly crimson red and had a happy spaced-out, lovesick look on her face.

"I don´t know if its good giving her all this hope, Chloe. Who knows, Chichi really may not feel the same."whispered Emily who heared them and scooted closer.

Chloe huffed.

"What d´you know about it Emmy? As far as I know you´ve never dated or crushed on anyone. So what d´you know about love?"she said straightforward as always.

At that moment they reached the circle, where many of their classmates were already waiting for them.

"More than you would know Chloe."she said smilingly waving at Archie who was standing there with the other classmates along with the younger kids and even the two adult teachers have gotten up early in order to hear more of the incredible novel.

"Ok. Now that we´re all here, let´s carry on."said Chloe in a happy voice as everyone sat down on the benches.

"April, it´s your turn to read."she said, as she brought the book out of her bag and passing it to her.

Only that April didn´t take it. Looking at April, Chloe and everyone else noticed that April was sitting there smilingly looking forward, seemingly in a world of her own. She was muttering something and only Chloe and Emily, who were sitting right next to her were able to hear.

"...Chichi...me...marriage..."

Chloe giggled, while Emily shook her head and sighed though with a smile.

"Aaaapriiiilll! Earth calling – message from headquarters. C´mon back...!"said Chloe waving her hand in front of her face, but when that didn´t work, she jabbed her gently in the ribs.

April squealed and jumped a bit, before coming back to reality.

"It´s your turn April."said Chloe handing her the book, while April tried unsuccessfully to hide her deep red blush.

"What´s with you, April. You´re not sick are you?"asked Mr Weatherby looking concerned.

"Oh no, Mr Weatherby. She just had a vision of the future, that´s all."replied Chloe with a straight face, as though she said the most normal thing in the world.

Oliver, Victor and Liam laughed while the remainder looked completly lost.

"Anyway, start reading April. I´ve been waiting for this for a very long time."said Victor with enthusiasm.

Oliver snorted.

"Since he got into bed yesterday he means."

Victor scrowled and the two brothers were prepared to launch at eachother.

"_Aaahem._"

The sound snapped them back to reality too. Both of them eyed Chloe in fear.

"I...I was looking forward to it too."said Oliver quickly.

Chloe laughed and quickly ruffed Oliver´s hair, moving her face to his right ear.

"_Good boy_."she whispered and Oliver´s face went crimson red too.

Victor had a hard time restraining his laughter. Until Chloe approached him.

"What´s so funny, Vic?"she asked in a completly innocent voice.

Victor gulped.

"N...no...nothing." he said quickly, remembering yesterday.

"Oh...ok then."said Chloe in the same innocent voice and as she turned to April, Victor breathed a sigh of relief.

"Ok. Now, where we left off..."

Sun was already halfway up as the group continued to listen, as April passed the book to Emily, she taking her turn in reading. The group was getting more and more excited as the story was progressing, many sharing Chloe´s view on detective Razor, Archie and Tex included.

""_We´re sooo going to get into trouble for this."lamented Rainbows as he sat at the back of the stolen car, with Razor driving, whisling to himself happily and Madame Resaque on the passenger seat._

_Suddenly Razor stopped the car._

"_Ok, you two get into that car infront of us. I´ll be along in a moment."he said._

_Madame Resaque looked puzzled, but nodded and exited the car moving towards the one infront of them. Rainbows was about to question Razor on his enigmatic whim, until he noticed something that the detective was pulling out of his bag. Instantly recodnizing it, he swiftly got out of the car and ran towards Madame Resaque._

"_He must be insane."he muttered to himself unable to believe what his superior was about to do. _

_In a moment, Razor exited the car too and got to them. Opening the other car with his keys he said. _

"_Get in, fast."_

_Madame Resaque was about to ask him why, but Rainbows quickly cut her off._

"_Believe me, do as he says."he said quickly looking at the car behind them. _

_In a second, Razor was starting up the car and the journey resumed with Madame Resaque looking confusedly from one to the other._

"_I don´t understand. You are going to leave your car there?"she asked looking at Razor. _

"_Oh, that´s not _our_ car."he said idly._

_Suddenly the car behind them exploded, its pieces flying in all directions in the blast radius. _

_Madame Resaque looked stunned for a minute. _

"_R...Razor...?"she asked desperate to see the logic in this move."_

"_I´ve told you that its NOT our car."he explained grinning like a maniac._

_Getting the hint, Madame Resaque exploded in laughter, while Rainbows was still viewing the now burning wreck in the distance..._"

The park´s circle exploded in laughter as well.

"I can´t believe he did that..."laughed Liam.

"Garoche is really going to be mad now..."chuckled Brian.

"Wouldn´t you be, if some guy blasts your office twice and wrecks five of your expensive cars...?"chortled Oliver.

"And that´s not counting that drug warehouse he burned down..."piped up Victor.

"Aaand disabling his finest assasins with laughing gas...allowing them to be handed to the police still laughing like idiots."reminded Chloe, who like her friends was in a fit of giggles.

"Looks like Garoche´s criminal syndicate is coming to a terrifying end."agreed Mr Weatherby also laughing.

"You can say that again. Honestly I can´t understand how can one man cause so much chaos."commented Mr Barnaby shaking his head.

"In such a short ammount of time, no less."added Weatherby.

"Well that insomnia of his really gives him the time to do so."said April smilingly.

"Who knows if he´ll ever get rid of it."commented Archie thoughtfully.

Emily smiled and scooted closer to him.

"Who knows, Archie. Perhaps Madame Resaque will cure him of it."she said softly smiling at him.

Archie looked confused.

"How? She´s not a doctor...? Plus he hates sleeping..."

Emily sighed as she sat back at the girls´ bench, leaving him perplexed, while other boys were smirking at him.

"If you´re trying to do what I think you are Emily, I´m afraid you´re either fighting a lost battle, or you will surely have your work cut out for you."said Chloe quietly just so she and April could hear as the conversations about the book plot so far started to erupt, each member of the group sharing his opinions.

"C´mon girls. Archie is Detective Wiseman´s aid. I´m pretty sure he´s not _that_ clueless."said Emily, her eyes on the boy as he was discussing the plot with his classmates.

"I wouldn´t bet any money on that, Emmy."said April quietly.

Emily flared and glared at April

"Look who´s talking, when _you´ve_ been crushing on a certain boy since third grade?!"

April flared too.

"That´s different!"she defended herself.

"No its not! Its practicly the same!"

"Hey girls! Look who´s coming!"said Chloe pointing ahead and the two stopped arguing.

April´s face instantly brightened and a happy smile formed on her lips.

Chichi, Lily and Phil came into the circle, each holding something in their hands. Chichi was holding a map, Phil a photo-camera and Lily a notepad and pen.

"Hey you guys. What brings you here?"asked Chloe happily.

"Oh just leisure activity that´s all."answered Chichi smiling at April, who instantly blushed.

"Wow. What are you three working on?"asked Liam curiously, the classmates also joining in.

"Just a small research of Beauvillage history."said Phil quickly.

"And one of the places on our list is the _circle of natural life_."said Lily gesturing to the statues.

"That was its original name, I remember now."said Weatherby.

"Its original name?"asked Archie.

"Yes, when the park was built certain areas were named by Balthazar Bunglewood. Nowadays however, those names were left forgotten."explained Weatherby.

"Wooow and you found out about them..."commented April and everyone let out an exclamation of pure awe.

"It wasn´t hard, April. All we did was go over the public records."said Chichi shaking his head.

"Yeah there was a detailed Map in there. So we made a copy."added Phil pointing to the map in Chichi´s hands.

"Ok, let´s get down to business, boys. Phil take a picture of each statue. From different angles too."said Lily.

"On it, Lil."replied Phil as he got busy taking pictures.

For five minutes everyone watched as the trio took in the circle, making notes and pictures here and there.

"I always wondered, what do those animals mean."said April, who was standing next to Chichi, who was drawing something into the map, circling certain places on it.

"Well... from what I read yesterday, these represent the ties of people to their enviroment and its animals. It means, that people are also a part of it, that´s why there are two domestic and two wild animals. The goat represents the gentle side of animals, bull the powerfull one, hawk the free and untamed and the wolf the feral yet wise. Legend has it, that people possess all of these traits."said Chichi, reciting the text that chaught his interest in the Guide to Green sorcery.

As everyone looked in awe, even the adult teachers themselfs, April sighed.

"You´re amazing, Chichi honey-bun."she said earnestly.

Chichi scrowled.

"_When_ are you going to _stop_ calling me that?!"he asked deadpanned.

April giggled.

"Never!"she sing-songed.

The effect it had on the rest of the group was instantanious. The boys chuckled and threw him smirks, the girls went "Awww" and "How cute." and even Mr Weatherby – who was aware that April felt for the boy since third grade, smiled and chuckled to himself.

"_Too much_."muttered Chichi, claping his palm on his forehead, his face red once again.

Suddenly he looked around the circle, his eyes went suddenly wide and he went straight to the human statue in the middle. He spotted a most familiar symbol engraved on the holder of the statue. A symbol he hasn´t seen for three years yet remembered like yesterday. The symbol that marked the spot where the treasure of Beauvillage river was hidden.

"Phil! Come here with the camera for a second."he said in an unbelieving voice.

"What is it, Chichi? You found...something..."said Phil also noticing the symbol his best friend was pointing to and his mouth fell open.

"Guys? What is it?"asked April confused as were the rest of the group watching them.

"Just a small blast from the past."answered Phil who took a picture of the symbol.

"Let´s check the other statues. I´ll bet they will have it too."said Chichi rising up and approaching the bull statue.

Looking over the statue from all angles he soon found what he was looking for.

"Got it!"he called and Phil instantly sprinted to him, April following suit.

"This one´s different though."he said as he took the picture, while Chichi sprinted to the hawk statue.

"Another one. And again a different one."he called.

The boys searched the four animal statues finding a different symbol on each and everyone of them. Chichi quickly spun around facing the group.

"Doesn´t anyone know a story or a legend about this place?"he asked and everyone was completly silent.

"Yes! There is one, Chichi. It was told many times to me by my grandmother when I was a child."said Weatherby remembering the story.

"Legend says, that over 200 years ago now, this very place was used by members of a old cult, which was here in Beauvillage. They met in here and conducted magic rituals for years, but one day after the mysterious Beast of Beauvillage was attacking the town, the members of the cult dissapeared and no one in Beauvillage ever saw them again or the beast for that matter."

A long silence followed, but suddenly Chichi jumped into the air his fist pointing to the sun above.

"TOO MUCH! C´mon you two! Let´s check all the statues in the park. We´re bound to find more symbols."he said running out of the circle, Phil and Lily hot on his heels.

"Wow..."came a collective awed responce from the remaining teens.

"You were right, April. Chichi is _exactly_ like detective Razor. The way he notices things and how intuitive he is."said Chloe in awe.

"Yeah. And the way he and Phil work together is exactly like Razor and Rainbows do."said Oliver awed as well.

"What could he have stumbled upon though...?"wondered April.

"Perhaps it has something to do with this legend I mentioned."said Weatherby.

"Who built those statues...?"asked Emily silently.

"Ol´Balthazar Bunglewood. He did place great importance on the legend..."Weatheby answered.

"D´you think that he may have known about this cult?"asked April.

"Perhaps. He was rumored to have practiced something called Green Magic for years."said Weatherby thinking to himself.

Mia snorted.

"Magic?! Oh, please... he was probably another old wacko just like the Tofus are."she said laughing to herself.

April was about to retort but was caught off by Chloe´s scream.

"What...?"asked April looking at her.

Chloe was looking at the human statue, shaking from fear. As everyone else looked, their faces reflected the same fear. The statue´s eyes were shining in a bright green light.

"Im...impossible."whispered Weatherby.

Suddenly the eyes of each animal started to shine too. The bull´s eyes went blood red, the hawk´s radiant yellow, the goat´s dark purple and the wolf´s bright blue. Everyone was on their feet looking at the statues in horror.

"What...what´s going on...?"asked Emily shaking all over.

"I... I can´t believe it...it can´t be..."muttered Weatherby as all of them looked at him.

His face was white as paper as he looked at the statues in horror.

"_**It´s the ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood!**_"he screamed.

In one instant, everyone let out a terryfied scream and ran out of the circle and out of the park.

...

In the different part of the park, Lily gasped just as the boys were examining the smaller human statue near the river. Her gasp drew their attention.

"What is...it...?"started Phil, but quickly fell silent as he looked at her.

Lily´s shirt was glowing in a deep green light. Also were the statue´s eyes.

"What... what´s going on?"asked Chichi, looking from the statue to Lily.

Lily reached into her shirt and took out her necklace, which´s single big gemstone was emitting the green light. The smaller mineral stones also flickered in different colors.

"What is going on here...?"she breathed as the radiant lights were seen all trough the park.

...

**A/N:** Okay, Titus´ alarms plus Pop´s inventions = lethal combination. :D Also the Bunglewood mystery is deepening – its time to make a little Green Magic appear :D Btw I couldn´t resist putting in some fluffy moments too. Sorry :D

HK07


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

"That was so scary..."exclaimed Abbygail as she sat down at the schoolyard stairs.

Everyone present at the Circle of Natural Life ran home immediatly after the statues in it began to glow a few hours ago. Everyone called eachother up and Chloe and April set up another meeting, but thistime at their schoolyard figuring it´ll be safer. Even Mr Weatherby and Mr Barnaby returned, but they were as shaken as the teens.

"I never seen anything like it. You really think it was that ghost, Jack?"asked Barnaby turning to his collague.

"Well its been a long time – years now, but Beauvillage experienced spiritual activity several times over the years, since Balthazar Bunglewood dissapeared. So naturaly, we figured it was his ghost. As I said yesterday, rumors say, that he still haunts his house on Beauvillage lake but very rarely he shows up in the town."said Weatherby.

"D´you think this ghost may be...well...dangerous?"asked April shakily.

"Who cares? I don´t want to find out."exclaimed Mia.

"All of it started when you insulted his memory, Mia! Perhaps that´s why he appeared!"said Liam pointing to her.

Mia glared him.

"Don´t you _dare_ try to pin this one on me! It´s a free country! I´m in perfect liberty to say whatever I please!"she growled at him and he flinched a bit.

"More like _insult_ anyone you please! You never worry about who or what it is. Thistime may have been one time too many! When are you going to learn that people have feelings?"commented April and Mia´s glare turned to her.

"And what about that crackpot ritual the Tofus made? That may have been the _real_ reason!"she countered and some of the teens along with Mr Barnaby seemed to take this into account.

"D´you think it may have something to do with the ritual? Or the amulets?"asked Brian warily eyeing his amulet.

"Maybe. Or _maybe_ it has something to do with that blonde haired idiot and his crackpot projects."said Mia growling at the very thought of him.

"Chichi? What d´you mean, Mia?"asked Oliver.

"We´ve all seen him, Conners and Robins in there going over those statues. What were they searching for?!"she said thinking out loud as everyone looked at her in silence.

Suddenly Mr Weatherby slapped a hand to his forehead.

"Oh no. Phil and Chichi! I nearly forgot! They _did_ ask me about Balthazar!"

Mia gave a triumphant smile.

"See? It must´ve been them. Looks like the genius messed up big time! He and his friends woke the ghost!"she exclaimed before glaring April.

"Chichi, Lily and Phil are in no way responsible for this!"exclaimed April returning Mia´s glare.

"Oh yeah? Prove they´re not!"she challenged.

"Come now girls. It´s pointless to argue over this now. What´s done is done. If I remember correctly, most of the times when something like this happened in Beauvillage, the ghost calmed down after a few days – any spiritual activity stopped. For now I think its best to avoid the park and certainly not go anywhere near Beauvillage Lake. April, I want you to talk to Chichi about this and tell him that its best not to meddle into this. And kids, make sure not to mention Bunglewood to anyone. _Especially_ to any of your parents. Each time some activity like this arose, Beauvillage´s citizens were immediatly in a state of panic. Let´s spare them of that now. I hope none of you said anything about what happened at the park today."said Weatherby eyeing his students.

Everyone shook their heads. Even when asked by their families, none of the teens recounted what made them run home in such fear, not wanting to be thought insane. Luckily the adults bought the excuses and the subject was dropped immediatly. Mia however hesitated a bit before shaking her head as well. Mr Weatherby smiled.

"Fine then. Let us mention this subject no more. We should get back to reading this marvelous book."he said and the teens looked visibly relieved, their interest in the story renewed.

Chloe reached into her back-pack and brought out the novel and took out the bookmark she had.

"Detective Razor would not let this drop so easily."whispered April to Emily, who sat besides her.

"Speaking of detectives, I can´t see Nick, Tex or Archie here. I wonder where they went."she whispered back just as Chloe started to read.

...

The sun was slowly setting when Chichi undid the security seals and opened the door to the Hidehole. Lily and Phil entered right after him and Phil closed the door. There was a moment of absolute darkness before a small sound of a machine coming to life was heared and the lights came on.

"Well, let´s get to it, guys."said Chichi happily walking into the next room to the right.

As Lily looked at Phil, she saw the brightest possible smile grace his face as he dashed into the room after Chichi. She giggled a little to herself.

"Mention computers and he´s in seventh heaven."

As she walked into the next room she gasped. The room was made into a kind of a computer room. It had three work tables – two in the sides of the room, one in the middle also facing the wall and two couches on the sides, plus chairs at the tables. The shelfs in there sported equipment, supplies and tools. All three tables had computers, but the one in the middle had the biggest screen which took up nearly the entire table. The ones at sides had other machines attached to it, the one on the left side had a scanner and the other a big printer. Wires were over the floor and it was apparent that the three computers were linked with eachother. She instantly understood why Phil and Chichi were spending so much time in the Hidehole the previous week and why Phil had a dreamy look on his face whenever they returned back.

"So this is what you were doing last week."she said in awe looking over the room.

"Miles brought some of these machines in here. One of his contacts passed it to them since they were about to be thrown out of their firms. They were only slightly damaged, so Chichi made repairs to them quick enough."explained Phil looking proudly at the room as he sat behind the middle computer.

"Well it would be a waste for these to be lying on some dump afterall."said Chichi in a matter-of-fact voice as he turned the left-side computer turning it on.

"It certainly would! I mean how many times you get a chance to get your hands on such sophisticated equipment."replied Phil staunchly.

"Not to mention for free. Miles´ contacts are dead usefull. He can get his hands on anything."snickered Chichi drawing a giggle from Lily.

"Say no more. You´ve done very good work on this place. I mean its better than the school´s computer room."she commented appretiatively sitting at one of the couches.

"You can say that again, Lily. And Phil made one hell of a clean-up on the computers. He installed several programs the school doesn´t even have. Plus we´re linked to the internet. So from now on, any of our computer needs can easily be answered here."

Lily nodded and made sure to remember that, should the need ever arise. She was still a bit awed by what the two younger boys with the help of the older one were able to do. It made her wonder, just how much potential do these two actually have. As Phil attached the photo-camera to his computer and Chichi was busy looking over something on his table, Lily spotted a book which lay on the other couch.

"What´s that book?"she asked before walking over to the other couch picking it up.

"Oh just something I thought we could use in the research."replied Chichi ildly.

Lily shot him a questioning look before reading the title and gasping.

"Balthazar Bunglewood - A Wizard´s guide to Green Sorcery!"

Phil turned around from the computer wildly, his gaze glued on the book. Chichi snickered.

"I already read it, but I thought that we can use it when we go over what we have. It also explains why the statues in the park and your amulet glowed today."he explained and both Lily and Phil recounted what happened at the park.

"_What´s going on here...?"she breathed as the radiant lights were seen all trough the park. _

"_Could it be, Balthazar´s ghost..."whispered Phil looking at the statue in fear._

_Both of them backed a few steps back._

"_I think I take back what I said about ghosts."whimpered Lily stepping back some more. _

_As both of them backed down some more, they noticed that Chichi was standing where he was. _

"_Chichi c´mon, let´s get out of here before we end up like Ripgrab!"exclaimed Lily fearfully, but Chichi was not moving._

"_Oh no... you don´t think...?"she breathed as she turned to Phil, whose eyes shown similar fear. _

"_The hell I´m letting it happen."he breathed and moved towards Chichi in a flash with Lily not far behind him. _

_Phil grabbed Chichi by his arm, fearing the worst but as Lily came to his other side, both of them spotted something which they knew very well by now. __**The look**__ on Chichi´s face – a look that he had, when he was putting two and two together in a way only _he_ could._

"_So _that´s_ it! It actually works!"he muttered in an amazed voice, turning his gaze on Lily. _

"_What are you talking about?"she asked as she picked up where he was looking – at her glowing amulet. _

_Both she and Phil gasped._

"_Its no ghost, but the amulet?"he breathed as Lily held the amulet in her hand._

_Suddenly it stopped glowing and so did the statue´s eyes. A moment of silence followed but suddenly the park went wild with terryfied screams. As they looked on they spotted several of the girls and boys they met at the circle run to the park exits as though they were running for their very lives. Chichi couldn´t help it and started to laugh._

"_They look like they´ve just seen a ghost, don´t they?"he said and the two instantly realized what must´ve happened._

"_All the statues in the park must´ve been glowing like that."breathed Lily, looking at the statue again. _

"_Including those in the Circle of Natural Life. Boy that must´ve given them a fright."muttered Phil, placing his palm on the forehead, though laughing a bit._

"_Shouldn´t we go after them and explain what it was?"asked Lily, concerned a bit. _

"_And just how will we be able to explain this? This is Green Magic afterall."replied Chichi in a matter-of-fact voice. _

_Phil and Lily gasped. _

"_Green Magic? You mean like Balthazar was using?"asked Lily, eying her amulet. _

_Chichi nodded before turning back to the statue excitedly. _

"_We have to look over all the statues in Beauvillage. Then we´ll analyze everything in the Hidehole."he said before he turned and started to walk towards the park exit, both of them following suit._

"Lily, hand me over your notes. I´ll rewrite them into the computer, so that we can use them to piece together the puzzle. In the meantime you two can read the Guide. You´ll understand everything better after that."said Chichi.

Lily nodded and moved towards her bag, book still in her hand. She took her small notebook from the bag and passed it to Chichi, who instantly turned and walked towards the left side table and sat at its chair. Lily sat back at the couch and looked at Phil, who was still sitting at the middle table looking from Chichi to her. Smiling at him, Lily patted a spot on the couch next to her.

"C´mon Phil. Its time we find out about this Green Sorcery."

Phil nodded and moved from his table sitting down next to her. As Lily moved closer to him and opened the book on her lap, Phil couldn´t help but blush from being so close to her. But he had no idea _why_ he was blushing like that or _why_ he was getting a strange feeling he couldn´t quite place. Lily however didn´t notice as she started to read the prologue.

"_Green Sorcery is a way to fully bond with nature and all life around you. It takes an open mind and heart, otherwise its pointless and will not work. If however put into its maximum effect, it can achieve amazing things. But whatever you do when using it, you must be mindfull. This magic is an agreement with nature. When you take, you must also remember to give back. This is the first and foremost law of Green Magic. Those that break it will suffer dire concenquences._"

"D´you think that´s what may have happened to Ripgrab?"asked Phil in an awed voice.

"That was my thought as well. But we have no way to prove it. _Yet_."said Chichi, who was busy typing the notes into his computer.

Over the next two hours, Lily read out loud some of the book´s contents and all three shared their opinions on it. The book touched many interesting points on agroculture, wildlife, geology, minerals and gemstones, natural forces and catastrophies, life itself, it even listed several references to ritual healing arts and indeed held references to a mysterious Sucellus Cult, which as the book said practiced Green Sorcery for centuries. Though both Lily and Phil agreed with Chichi, that the book didn´t give all the information on many of the subjects. Nevertheless both teens were awed by what the book offered.

"I can understand now, why do your parents look up to this book as though it was holy text."commented Phil.

"One _can_ view it as a religion, I guess."said Lily thoughtfully.

Chichi snorted.

"Much better than any other religion around here in any case."

Chichi always had a skeptical view on religion. Especially with the townsfolk, most of whom were very religious indeed. Though a believer himself, he viewed the notion of priests interpreting God´s will completly ridicilous. Especially with what they do in the country and the world, not to mention what religion had done in history. Therefore he embraced the Zen notion of the Great Oneness. This was a trait he shared with his older sister.

"Anyway we found out of the power of the gemstones and minerals. I would never guess anything like that was possible."said Phil still having a bit of a hard time believing it.

"Its a good thing we didn´t mention anything to anyone about this. I doubt they would believe it even if we explained it to them. Plus as the book says, Green Magic is best done in secret."commented Lily, fingering her amulet.

"I wonder just how many people know about this though. Or the Sucellus Cult for that matter."Chichi mused a bit to himself.

"We can try and find out."exclaimed Phil as he shot up from the couch and sat behind the middle computer.

Lily sighed.

"_Philip_. I doubt anything like this could be found on the internet."she scolded lightly as she made her way towards him.

"No! He´s right, Lily. It may not contain precice references, but some small clues we can grasp on."said Chichi also getting up from his chair and approaching Phil´s side from the left, while Lily was occupying the right.

"I can try to trace the book using the publisher´s websites and find out where and when it was published."said Phil already hard at work.

"_Hocus...Pocus...Ca-ca-ca- Caramba..._"

Chichi´s Gzorbial cell-phone started to play the famous song from _The Jumpers_, which of course meant incoming call. Chichi instantly reached into his pocket and answered the call.

"Where are you? I´m getting worried."he heared Lola´s voice say and by the sound of it he could tell she was both worried and annoyed.

Mentally he berated himself as he looked at the time. Almost nine pm. He got so into the work, that he didn´t notice the time flying and forgot to let anyone at home know anything.

"In the Hidehole. Me, Phil and Lily are working on our project. I hope the folks aren´t as worried as you."he said.

"They´re not home. Dr Spock came in about half an hour ago and said some kind of meeting was going on infront of the town hall. Even Buba went with them."

Chichi scratched his head in a curious manner.

"Any idea what could it be about?"he asked.

"Who knows. Maybe the Mayor has another one of his ideas. Maybe some new contest or whatever. Anyway, when will you be back? They´re bound to worry if I don´t tell them something."

Chichi thought about it.

"Well, we´re not finished in here and its going well. The Hidehole has beds too, so I wonder if I or we should spend the night here. Only what to tell the _elders_...?"he mused, looking at Lily and Phil.

Afterall, the elder Tofus or anyone else apart from their group knew about the Hidehole and Chichi pretty much intended it to stay that way.

"I´ll call my parents. I´ll make the alibi for tonight. You can say we´re staying at my place. Also tell her I said hi."said Lily smiling at him.

"Me too."Phil piped up.

"Well Lola, we´ll be spending the night at _Lily´s_ then. They said hi, by the way."he said cheerfully grinning happily.

He could almost feel Lola rolling her eyes on the other side of the line.

"Jeez, you and your projects. All right I´ll tell them."

From the other side of the line Chichi heared a chuckle that certainly didn´t belong to his sister. With Mom, Pop and Buba at the town hall there could be only one single person that could be at home with her now.

"So Billy´s over, huh?"he said slyly.

Thistime he could easily tell, that Lola must´ve blushed deep-red.

"He´s staying over. He was supposed to bunk with you in your room."

Chichi snickered.

"Aww... so_ that´s_ why you called. Were you hoping perhaps that you would make an agreement with me to switch rooms with you just so you two can sleep together, hm?"he asked slyly.

Now he could only imagine the glare Lola´s poor little cell phone was getting.

"Oh...wait ´till _you_ will want to switch rooms so you can sleep with April."he heared her mutter icily.

Chichi instantly blushed deep-red.

"What...what are you talking about?"he stammered dumbly.

Lola let out a giggle and Chichi heared Billy join in with a chuckle of his own. They knew, along with just about everyone else in the Tofu-Hubbub household and their friends of Chichi´s newfound crush on April. Lola and Lily found out about it almost the instant it happened and were incredibly happy about it. The make-over idea really worked. However they advised April to wait and let Chichi make the first move. But they were still not above teasing Chichi about it, hoping to nudge him into action. Even Mom, Pop and Buba who were equally supportive of April´s love for Chichi joined in. The morning breakfast was proof of that. The only one, who didn´t do that was Miles. But as the girls guessed it was merely a matter of time until Chichi crackes.

"Don´t pretend, that you don´t know."said Lola in a sly voice of her own before hanging up.

Chichi lowered his Gzorbial phone and growled. He turned to his two friends and flinched at the sight of their smirks.

"Why do I get the feeling, that April was somehow brought up in the conversation."said Phil, looking at Lily innocently.

"Could it be because of that lovely blush on his face?"answered Lily smirking and Chichi´s face grew even more red.

"A...anyway...we have a lot of work to do."he said before moving towards the computer.

...

The town hall was buzzing with conversations. The story of what happened in the park somehow spread trough Beauvillage like wildfire. Almost every parent of the kids who were in the park today was here. Along with many others like the Tofus, Hubbubs, Spocks, Robins, Conners, Rogers, Peters, Bee, Workalots, Rodney Philips with his father, Starchy, Mayor Haveitall and his daughter Angie of course, even Mr Weatherby, who sighed deeply as he saw the panic the ghost activity had caused. Clearly one of the kids must´ve told the ordeal to his or her parents.

"The ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood has risen again. Now what do we do?"exclaimed one of the women and a collective shudder past trough the crowd.

"But what could´ve caused it?"asked another one of the crowd in a hopeless voice.

"Perhaps it was that ritual. It may have awoken the ghost!"exclaimed Nora Peters glaring the Tofus, her glare very much like her daughter Cherie´s.

The comment drew a heated discussion as part of the crowd blamed the Tofus for the ritual and other half, led by Spocks, Robins and both the youger and elder Philips defended them.

"People, please! There is no need for panic. Balthazar never once did anything to harm others and never wished anything bad to happen to Beauvillage."yelled Mayor Haveitall, hoping to calm the situation down.

"I second that!"called Luther Philips in a strong voice.

"Me too!"said Terrance Workalot crossing his arms.

"I agree as well!"said Rodney Philips his voice just as strong as his father´s.

"I think so too. I had known old Bunglewood when I was still a kid. The old man would never hurt someone. I´m sure my father would agree if he was here."came the voice of Phil´s father.

"Matthew!"scolded his wife glaring him.

He flinched slightly under her glare but held his composure.

"I´m only stating the truth, Natalie. He was really a kind old man and _my_ old man held him in great regards."he said in an apologetic voice.

"Do NOT get involved in this!"she hissed quietly, so the other people won´t hear it.

"Yes, dear."he said in a quiet defeated voice, bowing his head as she continued to glare him.

His comment however drew a wave of silence from the crowd. Most were musing over their thoughts about Bunglewood.

"And what about Evan Ripgrab´s death?! What d´you think _that_ was? Do you want to see a repeat of that?!"exclaimed another of the crowd and the panic began anew.

Haveitall sighed deeply. He wasn´t able to explain that, no matter how much he tried. He also couldn´t shake the feeling that the trio of youngsters who visited him yesterday had something to do with this, but he knew better than to say that outloud.

"What if the ghost attacks again?!"another fearfull exclamation came and the panic compounded in the crowd.

"Yeah, who knows what you Tofus have unleashed on our town with that ritual of yours!"

"Will you _shut up_, Clarent?!"roared Titus Hubbub and the crowd was silenced, all eyes locked on him.

"Jake and Violet are in no way responsible for any of this! The most that ritual could´ve done was drawn some attention and that was it! I thought we were about to discuss the situation and try to solve it, not pointing fingers on who was to blame!"he said crossing his arms in a definite way.

The crowd was stunned completly. TITUS HUBUB defending the TOFUS?! Everyone in Beauvillage was aware of the Tofu-Hubbub truce eversince it happened as it was impossible to ignore, but it seems that no one had any _idea_ of how deeply it actually goes. Even the mayor blinked a few times, if he didn´t see it himself, he would have never believed it. It seemed that they actually _befriended_ eachother. Robins and Spocks shared a happy smile and Conners looked approving while Beth flashed her husband a happy, yet awed look.

"How about another ritual? Y´know, something to calm the angry spirit."suggested Bee breaking the silence.

The suggestion was met with as much approval as skeptism.

"That just might work."

"Oh, please."

"It could calm the spirit."

"Another circus show?!"

"Do you have a better idea?!"

Mom, Pop, Buba and Bee found themselfs on the recieving end of the crowd´s stares.

"Well, you could try something, right Vi?"asked Julia Robins smiling at Mom.

"We can look around and try to calm the spirit."agreed Bee, with the Tofus nodding.

"Afterall a poor soul in roaming this town in unrest. It´s our duty to help."exclaimed Mom and some of the crowd gave a cheer of approval.

Mayor Haveitall smiled happily.

"Well in that case we can leave it to our Tofus. I have no doubt that they will help Balthazar´s spirit find his peace."he called and some of the crowd cheered while the others scrowled.

"That´s doesn´t sound very comforting."exclaimed Alicia Stevens, scoffing exactly in the same way, her younger daughter Mia often did.

"Have no fear citizens of Beauvillage."came a loud voice of a newcomer.

As one, every single face turned to the source of the voice. Detective Wiseman was standing broadly looking at the group of people, determination prominent in his face. Next to him standing much like him were Nick, Tex and Archie.

"My young friends have alerted me to what is going on. I have decided to take personal action in this case."he proclaimed nodding his head smartly.

"I don´t know if that´s a good idea, Fred."said Angie, looking at her cousin in worry.

"She´s right. You should leave it to the Tofus, detective Wiseman. This may be more down their street afterall."reasoned the Mayor, carefull to sound official in front of people.

"There is nothing to worry about un...I mean Mayor. Me and my brothers...I mean aids are perfectly capable of dealing with anything. Afterall even a ghost is no match for..."

"_The brotherhood of the Wise!_"the four exclaimed as one.

...

Lily turned on the bed. She looked at the clock on the bedside table, she saw that it was few minutes past midnight. She went into the upstairs bedroom of the Hidehole about an hour ago, yet she had a hard time getting to sleep. Standing up, she pulled on her shoes on her bare feet and made her way downstairs, hoping to get something to drink in the kitchen. As she came down the stairs, she noticed a small blue light coming from the right side room – the computer room. Peeking in she saw, that the only source of the light was the middle table´s computer, yet the chair was unoccupied. Looking over the room, she found Phil lying on his side on the couch sound asleep. Down on the floor was a blanket, which Phil obviously shook from himself as he tried to make himself comfortable. Smiling affectionately she approached the couch and grabbed the blanket. Spreading it she covered her friend´s sleeping form. She allowed her right hand to linger on his shoulder for a while as she observed him.

"_Looks like he grew a bit. At least he isn´t having trouble sleeping. He looks so cute when he does. Almost like he has when I first met him all those years ago._"she thought to herself feeling oddly at peace.

_-Flashback-_

"_C´mon Lily."called a 8 year old Steve Rowan, her classmate and friend called as a group of her classmates boys and girls alike were waiting for her. _

_She hurried and ran a bit before catching up to them. _

"_About time. We could´ve already been on the playground."spoke Cherie impatiently. _

"_Come on. We have time. Why hurry?"asked Billy scratching his blonde hair. _

"_Thanks for waiting for me. Mom and I were picking a new book."she said happily as she showed her book to them before they all set out towards the playground. _

"_I hate books!"exclaimed Chris looking away. _

"_Why bother reading them anyway."agreed Candy, her long blonde hair moving from side to side as she walked. _

"_I like books. They´re interesting."Lily defended herself, pouting a bit. _

"_What is it about?"asked Billy curiously as he and Steve moved closer to her._

"_Some old story from some other country. Mom said its name is Greece. She said that its very old."she explained. _

"_How old?"asked Steve looking at the book._

"_Very old."answered Lily in a matter of fact tone, though truth be told she had no idea. _

"_Can I look at it?"asked Billy politedly._

_Nodding, Lily passed him the book. Billy looked curiously at the title._

"_T..rojan horse?"he read out loud. _

"_Wow! I like horses."exclaimed Nina looking over, before flinching at the look Cherie was giving her and swiftly returning to her side._

"_Mom said that its a very good story."said Lily as Billy passed her the book back. _

"_Can you lend it to me after you read it?"asked Steve. _

_Lily nodded as they entered the playground. The children began to play several games, but Lily had no interest in the game of catch. She sat down on the swing and opened the book. She was just about finishing the first chapter when she spotted two other people enter the playground. A tall old white haired man, who was holding hands with a bright red haired little boy, who looked much younger than any of the other kids. He looked a bit scared as they approached. _

"_Stevie!"called the old man._

_Steve turned around and and his face immediatly shone in a bright toothy smile. _

"_Grandpa!"he exclaimed as he ran to them._

"_Hi Phil."he said greeting the little boy. _

"_Hi Cousin."replied the boy._

"_I have to go take care of something, Stevie. Can Phil join you kids while I do that? Will you look after him?"asked the old man._

"_Sure Grandpa, you can play with us Phil."said Steve kindly. _

_The boy looked at the playing older kids, then at his grandfather moving closer to him._

"_Now Phil. You need to stop being so shy. Play around with them for a while. That´ll do you good. Besides I have to get to the doctor and you would be better playing here with other kids, than sitting with me in the waiting room."said the old man, before he getting a coughing fit, which both of the boys regarded fearfully._

"_Are you ok, Grandpa?"Steve asked when he stopped. _

"_Of course I am Stevie. Now, I will leave you to play. I´ll come back for you ok?"he said before turning around and leaving. _

_The two boys looked at him and when he was out of sight, Steve took Phil by the shoulder and guided him towards the other kids._

"_Who´s he?!"asked Cherie bossily and the tiny boy flinched, moving closer to his cousin._

"_He´s my cousin. He can play with us, right guys?"asked Steve._

"_Sure. What´s your name?"asked Billy coming closer to the pair. _

"_I´m Phil."he answered shyly._

"_I´m Billy."said Billy kindly, offering his hand for a hand-shake. _

_Phil smiled and shook his hand. _

"_Well I´m not playing with him!"exclaimed Cherie, looking at Phil with distaste. _

"_Me neither!"agreed Chris. _

"_Hey that´s not fair. What´s the problem?!"asked Billy looking at the two. _

"_If he´s not playing, then I´m not playing too."said Steve, still holding his younger cousin´s shoulder._

"_That´s ok, Stevie. I don´t wanna play."Phil piped up. _

"_Aww come on."said Steve hoping to persuade him. _

"_No...I´ll...play on the swings."said Phil before coing out of his cousin´s grasp and started to walk towards the swings. _

_Both older boys glared at Cherie and Chris, who didn´t pay any attention to it as the game resumed. _

_Phil made his way to the swings noticing the girl sitting on one of them, who noticed him as he reached the swings._

"_Can... can I use this swing?"asked Phil shyly, pointing to the swing next to her._

"_Sure."she smiled warmly and the little boy calmed a bit, returning her smile. _

"_Thanks."he said before seating himself on the other swing. _

"_So you are Steve´s cousin?"she asked, looking at him curiously._

_He nodded extending his hand for a hand-shake._

"_I´m Phil."_

_Smilingly, Lily took it and shook._

"_I´m Lily."_

_The boy smiled back before looking at the book in her lap._

"_What´s that?"he asked curiously pointing to it. _

"_An old story. Its called the Trojan horse. Its really good."she answered. _

"_Wow. I like stories."he eyed the book with bright curiosity._

"_Well we can read it together."she suggested and he nodded._

_And a moment later, Phil was seated on her lap, the book in both of their hands as Lily read out the story, until his grandfather came to collect him later. _

_-End of Flashback-_

Lily smiled fondly at the memory, her hand still on his shoulder. That was the start of their friendship. Phil sighed in his dream, bringing her back to reality. She withdrew her hand and as she turned noticed the smile on his face. No doubt he was having a pleasant dream. Smiling to herself she entered the lit kitchen.

"Can´t sleep either, huh?"came Chichi´s voice.

Chichi was sitting at the table, an open can of lemon beer ahead of himself and the Wizard´s Guide to Green Sorcery open at his right side.

"Not really no."she said before reaching into the fridge for a can of Coola.

Opening it she took a swig before sitting down on the opposite side of the table.

"Tommorow, we visit the museum of natural history before going after Mrs Longline."she said.

Chichi nodded.

"Lily, I was wondering about something. Yesterday the mayor mentioned Phil´s grandfather and he seemed sad because of it for some reason. He seemed to be surprised, that he was Balthazar´s friend. Plus Phil never said, anything about him for as long as I´ve known him."said Chichi thoughtfully.

Lily sighed.

"You remember that the mayor mentioned him to have been sick even before Balthazar dissapeared?"asked Lily and Chichi nodded.

"Well me and Phil befriended eachother when we were kids. I was 8 and he was 5. You see, we came to know eachother trough Steve. I also knew his grandfather. Before he died he lived with them in their house, until he died when Phil was 6. Phil was very attached to him. Much like you and Lola are attached to Buba. That´s why he didn´t mention him at all. It´s a painfull subject."she explained and Chichi nodded in understanding.

After spending most of his childhood with her, he didn´t even want to imagine a world without Buba. Both of them thought back to the mayor´s comment that he and Balthazar´s other friends would love to know what happened to him.

"Chichi?"

"Lily?"

They asked simultainously, looking eachother in the eyes. Both sets of eyes showing the same determination, their faces showing the same smile.

"We´re going to solve this, no matter what."

...

**A/N:** Well, this chapter took me a while to figure out, but I made it trough. It shown a kind of a shocking moment, with Titus shown that he actually changed for the better. Indeed 2 years after the truce with the Tofus, they´re really good friends now. Also Wiseman and his brotherhood will be back in "action" soon. Afterall I can´t let him pass up on his family´s unsolved case, can I? :D Plus the flashback to how Phil and Lily first met was a thing that was not entirely planned, but I had a small brainstorm. And if you´re wondering Chichi´s newfound crush on April occured between episodes (I know, I´m mean ;p), but don´t worry, it won´t be as easy as it seems :D And by the way, if you´re wondering just who blabed to their parents I give you three guesses who it was :D HK07


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7 **

"_Ghost_! Can you hear me?"sounded trough Beauvillage park.

The moon shined trough the trees, as a large group of people stood in the Circle of Natural Life. The Tofus, Hubbubs, Spocks, Robins and others were standing in the circle, which was lit by candlelight as Bee and Mom were conducting another ritual. Bee was seated at the foot of the human statue, eyes closed in concetration as she desperately tried to make contact with the troubled spirit.

"I may have stood behind them at the Town Hall, but I think I may be eating my words very soon."grumbled Titus overlooking the ritual along with most of the people.

"Oh shush Titus. You said yourself, that we need to resolve the problem and Bee´s ritual just might work."replied Beth.

"I only wish we could´ve consulted the Wizard´s Guide to Green Sorcery."said Pop under his breath.

Both Titus and Beth fixed him with perplexed looks.

"Why didn´t you, Jake? I mean you guys basicly _live_ by that book."asked Titus rolling his eyes a bit.

Indeed he noticed them go by it most of the times over the years. Pop sighed a deep sigh.

"We wanted to Titus. But for some reason neither me or Violet can find it at home. I wonder where could that book have gone."he explained sighing again.

"You´ll find it. You two may have just misplaced it somewhere in the house."reasoned Buba, knowing by now, how Mom and Pop tend to misplace or forget about things when they are fired up for something – like today after the town meeting.

"I only wish you hadn´t pulled us out of the house because of this."grumbled Lola.

She was enjoying a pleasurable evening with her boyfriend and there was a new movie on the tube she really wanted to see. Instead both of them had to come along for Bee´s "_calming ritual_", which surprisingly most of the people who were infront of Town Hall were attending. She even caught glimpse of her homeroom teacher and Chichi´s homeroom teacher as well. However, as she stole a look at her parents deeply involved in the ritual and Billy´ s parents also witnessing it, she suddenly got a good idea. She yawned openly and started to rub her eyes. The gesture did not go unnoticed by her father.

"Buttercup? Are you ok?"he asked in concern.

"I´m alright Pop. I´m just...*_yawn_*...a bit tired that´s all."she replied and for good measure yawned again.

"You should go home, Lola."he said at once.

"Oh no Pop. I´m fine. Besides we need to see trough the ritual afterall."

Pop however shook his head and placed his hand on her shoulder smilingly.

"We´ll take care of this my little sunshine. You head back home and get some beauty sleep."

Billy quickly caught wind of what was going on.

"I´ll accompany her Mr Tofu."he suggested, walking closer to them.

"_Jacob_, Billy. I´ve said it countless times. You´re right though. You´re sleeping over anyway and I´ll feel calmer knowing that my precious little girl is in good hands."Pop smiled and nodded in approval.

He always held Billy in high regards even before he and Lola started dating. He also witnessed his willingness to protect her a year back and since then there was no better boy in his eyes which could be dating her daughter. Plus he was greatfull to him, since he and Lola were instrumental in bringing the Hubbubs and Tofus together.

Both teens nodded, Lola carefull in keeping up the pretence. Billy offered his arm and looked at Lola smilingly.

"Shall we, m´lady?"he asked nonchalantly, sounding like a hero from cheezy romance movies.

Lola had to surpress a giggle instead she settled for a weak smile as she linked her arm with his and the two walked out out of the circle.

"Charming boy. I´m so gratefull that they found eachother."breathed out Buba, looking at the two lovebirds as they were dissapearing in the darkness provided by the trees.

"That makes two of us Buba. Lola´s a very fine young girl."agreed Beth appretiatively before they turned back towards the end of the circle.

Suddenly Bee made a loud theatrical sound to which the crowd responed.

"He´s _here_! Now we begin the chant, to calm him down. Everybody join hands and come closer!"exclaimed Bee as the people did as they were instructed and seconds later a loud chanting was heared troughout the circle.

Billy and Lola stopped only after a minute´s walk. Turning her around, Billy swiftly delivered a long affectionate kiss to his girlfriend.

"Nicely played."he said appretiatively as they parted for air, still holding eachother tightly.

"I had to do something about it. Especially since our time together was interupted for something like _that_."she replied, running a hand trough his hair.

"Something worries me a bit though. That ghost. You don´t think its true, right?"he asked.

Lola giggled.

"Aren´t you a bit too old to believe in ghosts?"

Billy however was silent. Lola fixed him with a curious look. Was this the reason he agreed to come along and persuaded her to come too?

"You _do_ think, that the ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood is real?"she asked incredulously.

"I´m not sure, Lola. I mean I´ve heared stories about it during my childhood and there were people claiming that they´ve seen it. I guess I´m worried about Chichi, Lily and Phil. I can´t help but think, that their _project_ is somehow liked with this ghost business."he replied, finally giving voice to his worries.

"So that was it, huh? Well I don´t think you have to worry about it. They´re smart. They know what they´re doing."she reasoned.

Billy however looked skepticly at her.

"You know how Chichi and Phil get when they get too worked up about something."

It still amazed him how much trouble could the twosome be capable of getting into. And it ussually started pretty innocently before escalating into incredible messes.

"Well they have Lily along. Believe me, she´s more than capable of keeping those two in line."

Lola´s comment did nothing to calm him down and she noticed it. With a smile, she closed the distance between them cathing his lips in a passionate kiss giggling to herself as they separated, for Billy had a incredibly dazed look on his face.

"There, _that_ did it. Now come on my prince charming. I _am_ a bit tired and what if the ghost decides to come and get me? I don´t think I´ll be able to sleep alone tonight."she said slyly and Billy grinned happily.

"I like where this is going."he sighed contently as he allowed his giggling girlfriend to lead him out of the park towards the Tofu house.

...

The people in the park however were not the only ones working into the night. In the depths of the town hall´s archieves the Brotherhood of the Wise were heavily searching trough every piece of material they could get their hands on.

"I don´t understand one thing, big brother."said Archie from the computer adressing detective Wiseman, who was busy searching trough old newspaper copies, which were kept there for future use. He paused from his search to look at Archie.

"You really believe in this ghost everyone keeps talking about?"

Wiseman snorted at Archie´s question.

"Of course I don´t brother Archie. I said I will take personal action in this case. No one ever said anything about ghosts or other imaginary creatures."he answered smilingly as both Tex and Archie fixed him with curious looks.

"But doesn´t that mean on dealing with the ghost?"asked Tex completly bewildered.

"Sheesh, can´t you two read between the lines?"exclaimed Nick impatiently as the two looked at eachother confusedly.

"There was nothing interesting between the lines that I could find, brother Nick."said Archie pointing to the article on screen.

Nick slapped a hand to his forehead, the sound echoing trough the abandoned archieve.

Wiseman cleared his throat.

"Well, what you two don´t know yet is that our brother Nick has overheared a most interesting conversation between young Chichi and his friends with my un...I mean the mayor. It seems that this ghost business is situated around my family´s unsolved case. In fact its the only case that my grandfather, father and uncle failed to solve. And now young Chichi and his friends are searching for clues for it. That must not happen! Only a Wiseman has the right to solve this case! Also I can only imagine the respect I will gain from my father and grandfather when I accomplish something they could not!"said Wiseman with unussual excitement, his sunglasses glintering in the neon lights.

Both Archie and Tex looked at him in pure awe.

"Wow! I know that you will succeed in this, big brother Frederick!"exclaimed Archie with equal enthusiasm.

"Yeah! You´re the greatest detective in the world afterall!"agreed Tex, giving Wiseman a thumbs up.

"Thank you my brothers. But _I_ however will have something that no Wiseman, when solving the case before me ever had – my Brotherhood."said Wiseman looking at the three with pride.

"You said it! We´ll solve this no matter what."agreed Nick, with his fist raised towards the cieling.

"And we´ll finally be celebrated as great detectives. As well we should!"added Tex nodding.

"Then let´s get to it boys. We have work to do!"commanded Wiseman and the three teens wasted no time in fufilling the command.

The archieve was suddenly alive with sounds as the foursome was going trough it with such vigour, that many people dealing with the archieve troughout the day would´ve envied them, had they seen them. As hours passed they indeed found several promising clues, many articles regarding Balthazar´s demonstrations, numerous business plans made by Mayor Ripgrab and even the medical report regarding the former mayor´s mysterious death.

Several hours later, rays of sunlight shone trough the windows. The foursome were all seated around the archieve´s large middle table, all of them sound asleep over the notes and articles which were scattered on it. Suddenly the archieve door opened and someone walked in. The figure walked around the table scanning the mess they have made overnight, before standing next to the sleeping form of detective Wiseman. Wiseman was awakened from a pleasurable dream by a gentle hand, which was stroking his hair affectionatelly.

"Wake up, Frederick."said a gentle voice, much like his mother´s.

Slowly he raised his head and wiped the sleep from his eyes under his sunglasses. As he turned to the source of the sound his eyes fell upon the smiling face of his cousin Angela Haveitall.

"A...Angie...? What...?"he looked around the surroundings to gain some clues to where he was.

Angela giggled.

"I can see you and the boys had a long night, Freddie."she remakred with a giggle.

Wiseman quickly tensed and placed a finger infront of his mouth making a shushing sound.

"Angie! No one in Beauvillage is to know that we´re family."he said quickly looking around the boys to make sure that they were asleep and did not hear.

Angie sighed and her face sported a feigned look of hurt.

"Aww... are you so ashamed of your dear cousin, Freddie?"she asked turning her back to him and feigned a small sob.

Wiseman instantly jumped from the chair and swiftly embraced her from behind.

"C´mon Angie. You know that´s not true. I only want the people of Beauvillage to have respect for me because I´m a great detective. Not because I´m the mayor´s nephew. I want to prove myself, that´s all I swear. You´re still my favourite cousin. No matter what."said Wiseman in a pleading voice, one that he used since their childhood.

Angie giggled to herself. He was always like that. She fondly thought back to their childhood years, when he was 8 years old and proclaimed that he would marry her one day. Indeed she and her father were closer to him, than any of his siblings or the rest of the family save for his mother who was a kind and gentle woman. Turning around in the embrace she returned her cousin´s hug.

"I know Freddie. But I really wish you would ease up about it. Just for a bit. It´s really not such a big deal."she said smilingly knowing that unlike the rest of the Wiseman family, he would at least consider it.

Suddenly Archie gave a huge yawn and started to raise his head. Wiseman jumped out of the embrace and faced Archie just as he opened his eyes sleepily.

"Good...*yawn*...morning, big brother."he greeted still sounding half-asleep.

"Good morning Archie. Wake the boys, we have to get back to work. A long day of investigating is ahead of us, hahaha."commanded Wiseman with a small sheepish laugh, praying to dear God that Archie did not see him hug his cousin.

He really wasn´t ready to come clean with his family ties in Beauvillage to _anyone_. Not yet.

"What time is it anyway?"he asked as he shook Nick awake.

Angie looked at the watch on her left wrist.

"10:45."

Archie gave a loud yelp. One that drew curious looks from Wiseman, Angie and Nick and suceeded in waking up Tex, but Archie did not notice it. In a swift motion he took Tex by the shoulders and started to shake him ignorant of the fact that he was already awake.

"C´mon Tex we overslept! We have to get to the schoolyard at once! They´re about to start without us!"he exclaimed as Tex´s head was going up and down as he shook him swiftly, a few times even banging the table.

"What are you two talking about?"asked Wiseman curiously.

Nick slaped a hand to his forehead.

"That mystery novel that Chloe found. How can you two worry about such a thing when we´re on the verge of solving a 20 year old mystery?!"he said chastizing the two.

"But brother Nick! That story is really cool."Archie quickly defended them as he let go of Tex and the latter grabbed his head.

Nick snorted.

"I don´t care about some stories! We´re about to figure out something even your famous detective Razor would not be able to solve."

Wiseman´s head was shaking from Nick to the pair.

"What detective? Do I know him? Do we have something on him?"he asked in a confused voice.

Before anyone could say anymore, both boys dashed up to the door of the archieves.

"Hey! We´re not finished here! Also we have to monitor the activities of Chichi and his friends!"exclaimed Nick, but Tex already opened the door.

"We´ll be in touch if something happens. Call us if you need help!"called Tex already dashing out of the archieves.

"Yeah, we have a date with the _Great Mystery_."called Archie as he closed the door and dashed after him.

Nick was shaking in rage, Wiseman looking in confusion and Angie was shaking, trying heavily to muffle the fit of giggles that came over her. Wiseman turned to Nick.

"Great Mystery? Is it any good?"he asked bewilderedly.

"If you like fiction."grumbled Nick.

"Well boys, gather your materials then so I can start cleaning up. You four sure made a mess in here."said Angie eying the scattered papers that lay all over the archieve.

"We´ll help you clean up A...Ms Haveitall."said Wiseman quickly ignoring the confused look Nick was giving him.

Angela smiled at him.

"I would very much appretiate it, _detective Wiseman_."

...

"Thanks for this small favour, Bruno."said Chichi to the old bispectaled security guard as he, Lily and Phil entered the Beauvillage museum of Natural History.

"My pleasure Chichi. Not many youngsters visit the museum anyway. But I must say, that I am amazed that you three are on the trail of what happened to Balthazar Bunglewood. Though I can´t possibly understand what do you expect to find about him in here."

Chichi flashed him a cheeky smile.

"More than you would think, Bruno."

Old Bruno chuckled to himself as he gave a key to Chichi and headed to the door.

"Well I hope you kids will be able to crack the mystery. Just remember to lock up the front door as you leave."

"Don´t worry Bruno. We will."asured Phil.

In the aftermath of the two boys finding the missing treasure of the museum, Chichi and Phil came to be on very good terms with Bruno, who was as gratefull to them as the manager of the museum. From time to time they did small favours for eachother. Like now for instance.

Lily couldn´t help but feel a bit impressed at the impact the boys´ doings left on Beauvillage and the contacts it created. The moment Bruno closed the front door of the museum, the threesome shared a smile.

"Ok. Let´s get to it. Lily are you ready?"said Chichi looking at Lily.

"Ready, willing and able."she responded as she pulled out the necklace.

From the Wizard´s Guide to Green Sorcery they learned how to use the gemstones like the green one on the necklace. They also learned that they can be used as a kind of a compas to locate traces of Green Magic.

"The book said, that they respond to your thoughts. But what are we searching for exactly?"asked Phil, looking at the green gemstone.

"I remember you mentioning, that the gemstone glowed as you were passing the museum days ago. So something has to be here."reasoned Chichi.

"I remember wondering who the necklace belonged to. But I have a good idea how best to direct my thoughts."said Lily as she stood facing the many corridors that were leading to many of the sections of the museum and asembled her thoughts, concetrating very hard.

"_We need to find something...anything...that belonged to Balthazar Bunglewood..._"

Suddenly Phil and Chichi gasped as the gemstone glowed in bright green light.

"It works."exclaimed Phil happily.

Lily improved on it and thought.

"_Point us_."

Suddenly the gemstone gave out a thin green light, pointing to the very end of one of the corridor.

"That way!"exclaimed Chichi excitedly as he set out into the corridor with Phil and Lily at his heels.

As they entered the said corridor, the gemstone´s light grew brighter again and in another flash, it pointed to the end of the corridor and towards a giant rack. Rushing towards it the trio scanned the contents behind the glass, expecting to see something.

"What gives? There´s nothing in here other than some old fossils."said Lily, carefully eying the contents.

"Well, Balthazar´s trasure contained several fossils."said Phil thoughtfully also eying the rack.

"_Whatever it is, it´s not inside the rack_."thought Chichi, folding his arms and trying to apply every single brain-cell in his head.

Looking at the amulet on Lily´s chest, he noticed that it was glowing in a very peculiar way. It was blinking as though signaling something. Chichi stepped a few steps back and looked carefully at the rack. Suddenly he moved back towards it, but approached its far left side.

"Chichi...?"Phil started as he noticed his best friend getting to his knees and checking over the far left side of the rack, looking behind it rather than at it.

Approahing his side, Phil and Lily noticed exactly what caught Chichi´s attention. The wall behind the rack was emitting a faint green light in accordance with the light pulses from Lily´s necklace.

"It´s behind the rack."breathed Phil.

"Help me move it."responded Chichi as he started to pull the heavy rack.

Phil instantly helped and though straining a bit, the two boys managed to pull the rack slightly back to reveal a medium sized square hole in the wall. The hole, that was emitting the green light. Chichi instantly reached into it, grasping for something that ol´Balthazar left behind two decades ago.

"What is it?"asked Phil in anticipation.

Lily´s eyes were also wide in happy interest as Chichi pulled out an old hand-made brown backpack.

"Wow."Phil breathed.

Lily suddenly gave a squeal of pure joy before grabbing both of them and hugging them at the same time.

"We did it! We did it!"she squealed.

Chichi laughed a little as happy as she was but Phil was experiencing a different set of emotions. For reasons that really mystified him for months now, Lily was making him feel so many strange emotions all at once. Seeing her joy and drive at times like this made him...well, happy – a happiness that seemed to echo hers. The warmth her hug provided was something that was giving him a sence of...belonging somewhere. Almost like coming home after years away from it. Why though he was feeling these feelings while being around Lily was a mystery to him and he swiftly shook his head to clear it as soon as she let him and Chichi go.

Neither Lily or Chichi noticed this, for they were completly preoccupied by the discovery.

"I can´t believe that it lay here for 20 years."said Lily in joyous awe.

"Since the museum is pretty much unchanged since then it´s not so surprising."reasoned Chichi.

"This is just like in the adventure stories. Finding a secret treasure. Something that lay buried in the very depths of time."exclaimed Lily, still unable to contain her joy.

Chichi chuckled.

"What a poetic way to say it."

Lily giggled and returned him a smile.

"I´m a poetic soul afterall."

Chichi´s fingers were busy finding the way to open the backpack. Finally succeeding he opened it. Reaching into it Chichi pulled out a large wooden chest and set it on the floor.

"Beautyfull."breathed Lily as she ran her fingers over it.

"It´s almost as large as a laptop."said Phil as he knelt on the ground closer to it.

"Incredible. It must be hand-made. And that wood..."breathed Lily.

"Rosewood. _Finest_ rosewood by the looks of it. Not a trace of any gloss or paint. Truly incredible craftsmanship."breathed Chichi awed by the work that must´ve surely be put into making such an object.

The chest was indeed rosewood – beautyfull combination of deep red and bright brown. It was lined with several symbols that were carved into it and even had four mineral stones on the top lid in various colors – deep green, bright yellow, light-red and faint purple. On the middle of the lower side of the chest there was a lock, but one that had no keyhole. In its place was a symbol like carving, but deeper than any other on the chest.

"D´you think there might be something in there?"asked Phil looking from Lily to Chichi.

"Of course there is. What would be the point of hiding it in the first place."said Chichi stating the obvious.

"Well boys. Only one way to find out."said Lily before she closed her eyes.

The necklace´s gemstone shone brightly once more and the chest´s mineral stones reacted, shining brightly too. But other than that... nothing happened.

"What the...?"Lily opened one eye and looked at the box.

"I directed every single thought on opening it..."she explained.

Phil nodded before looking at the chest but Chichi already had it in his hands and he ran his finger on the deep symbol.

"Looks exactly like that symbol on the human statue. Looks like that the gemstone itself will not open it. We need a key."he said plainly.

Lily and Phil looked at him.

"Key?"repeated Phil in bewilderment.

Chichi nodded and placed the chest back into the backpack.

"Perhaps Mrs Longline will know more about is. Its time we visit her."

...

"I´m so glad you´ve made it, Archie."said Emily as she, Tex and Archie were walking down the street towards the schoolyard, sunlight shining brightly only adding to peacefullness of the approaching Sunday noon.

"Well we couldn´t have missed it for the world. I mean detective Razor nearly has the case in the bag."said Tex already looking forward to hear the rest of the story.

"Just like us."added Archie happily, sharing a hi-five with his "brother".

Emily fixed the boys an awed look.

"Already? You mean you know how to stop the ghost?"she asked.

She had heared about the Town Hall meeting from her parents, who attented it. She was also very happy that Archie and the rest of the brotherhood came to no harm during the process.

"Of course. Like I said before Emmy, a ghost is no match against our brotherhood."he said smiling brightly at her.

Emily returned him a radiant smile as they entered the schoolyard where nearly everyone was present. Mr Weatherby and Barnaby were there too, but Mr Weatherby looked quite tired.

As some of the students pointed this out he smiled and gave a small explanation.

"Well I got only very little sleep. You see children, I was present at the _spirit calming ritual_ that took place in the circle starting midnight."

That drew looks of curiosity and awe from the teens. Most of course heared about it from their parents before or after it, but nothing very specific.

"What was it like, Mr Weatherby?"asked Oliver in honest curiosity which was reflected by his peers.

Weatherby smiled before thinking back to it.

"Well you kids didn´t miss out on any fun. There was no dance involved. We waited for Ms Bee Lotsabucks to contact the spirit and then we spent hours chanting the calming chant with several pauses. But we spent most of the night there. It was nearly 6 am when we all returned home."

The explanation was met with animated chating as the teens were eager to give their opinion.

"Now kids. Let´s hope that the ritual worked and that the ghost found its peace. Now...let´s get back to reading. I must say, I look very much forward to know how detective Razor will solve the case and hearing who is responsible in starting the syndicate war."

The suggestion was met with general agreement and a while later Emily, seated besides Archie – perhaps more closer than most would expect, started to read.

...

Chichi, Lily and Phil were now at the very end of Beauvillage, which overlooked the fields from the south.

"We haven´t seen her in a while, right Phil?"commented Lily as they approached the front door of the little house.

Phil happily nodded while Chichi fixed them a look.

"You two know her that well? I know that she´s on good terms with Buba and Mom but I haven´t seen her in years. Though when thinking about it...its kinda wierd since Beauvillage is such a small town."

Lily and Phil smiled at him.

"That´s because she rarely goes downtown anymore. She mostly remains here and takes care of her garden. But years back, before you guys came to Beauvillage she often spent time downtown. At times with our families too. She even used to babysit Phil when he was a toddler."explained Lily and Phil snickered.

"Dispite my Mom´s reproachfull nagging. I heared, that she even used to babysit _my_ father."

Chichi looked amazed for a second before shaking his head with a smile.

"Well...she´s 96 afterall."he said before ringing on the doorbell.

The trio waited politedly but were surprised as the door opened much sooner than they expected. In the open doorway stood Rodney Philips, smiling broadly at them.

"I thought I might find you here. Come on in."he said chuckling to himself.

The trio obeyed completly shocked.

"_Mr Philips_? What are you doing here?"asked Lily completly confused as Philips closed the door.

"I am on my ussual visit Lily. Me and Mrs Longline go a long way back. I always came here to help her around the house since I was your age boys."

The explanation was met with looks of even more shock and bewilderment.

"Rodney? Who is it?"came an elderly voice from the room ahead of them.

"We have some guests Matilda."he said as he escorted them from the ante-chamber into the living room.

The teens gasped as they entered. The living room was brightly decorated, holding several flowers, shelfs and ussual furniture but what one spotted immediatly were life-sized wooden sculptures, which were placed around the room – a monk, a wolf a goat and a medium sized bear. They recodnized them immediatly as the work of Balthazar Bunglewood. Philips motioned them towards the door to the balcony. There Matilda Longline was sitting at a cofee table overlooking her garden and soaking in the bright sunlight. A frail skinny old woman, she wore small glasses and had long white hair which were tied in dual pigtails much like April wore before. Dispite her frail appearance, she gave the impression of being in good health nonetheless. Her face though lined and withered with age was warm and friendly and just now was sporting one of her most radiant smiles.

"Children. I have not seen you in years. Come closer so I can have a look at you."she exclaimed beckoning Phil and Lily, who were sporting similar radiant smiles to come closer as Chichi and Philips remained behind.

"Lilian oh my... you look prettier eachtime I see you. You have grown into quite a beautyfull young woman."she said as Lily happily came to her and hugged her gently.

"You can say that again."said Phil under his breath and though it was missed by Lily it definitely wasn´t missed by Mrs Longline who smiled a little and her eyes twinkled a bit as she looked at Phil.

"_Ah._ _Young love in the making perhaps?_"she thought to herself before letting Lily go.

"Philip. Come closer too my boy."she said holding out her arms towards him.

Smiling shyly and blushing slightly he approached her and embraced her too. Breaking the embrace she held him by the arms and viewed him up and down.

"Still a tiny one I see. But you look even more than your grandfather. Now where is our third guest."

Phil stepped out of the embraced and made room for Chichi as he approached.

"Ah, the youngest Tofu. I have heared so much about you. But I must say, you look cuter than I heared."she said winking at him.

"Thank you Mrs Longline."said Chichi chuckling a bit, returning her smile with one of his tenthousand watt ones.

"More chairs and refreshments I think."said Philips happily as he moved towards the living room.

"We´ll help you."said Chichi at once and along with Phil entered the living room in order to help.

"Polite and helpfull boys aren´t they."said Mrs Longline smiling at Lily.

"Though a bit of troublemakers at times."she giggled.

Mrs Longline let out a giggle of her own.

"That means they´re healthy then. Boys will be boys afterall. Rodney was a lively boy too, you know"she said winking at Lily, who was completly astounded.

Just then the three males returned, each holding a chair in their hands.

"Make yourselfs comfortable boys. I´ll fetch the refreshments. Lily, juice or tea?"asked Philips politedly.

"Tea, Mr Philips."she responded.

"On it."he replied and smilingly sprang into a mock-salute before returning inside. Lily and Mrs Longline giggled.

"See what I mean? No different from any other."she said to Lily and the girl nodded back smirking at the boys´ curious looks.

"Ok. I heared from Rodney that you three are on the trail of dear Balthazar."

She fixed them with a calm yet wary look.

"Yes Mrs Longline. Can you tell us about him?"asked Lily in a pleading voice.

"Of of course Lilian dear. I unlike most of the town have no problem talking about my oldest friend. We known eachother since we were 10 years old."

This drew a look of awestruck surprise from the teens just as Rodney Philips came back with some tea, juice and ...

"Lemon beer?"asked Chichi surprisedly as Philips gave the can to him.

"I´ve heared from Lily here that you came to favour this little drink so I brought it here, knowing that you three would stop by eventually."he said with a wink as Chichi thanked him.

Mrs Longline gave a small nod to Rodney.

"Can you also bring my photo album? It´ll help me tell the story."

Philips nodded at the request and in a moment he returned with a big album.

"Well come closer children..."she said and the teens plus the teacher obeyed and moved their chairs to her as she opened the old album.

"...it all began more than 80 years ago when me and my family moved in to Beauvillage..."

...

"_You came back for me? I thought you..."exclaimed Madame Resaque, a happy smile on her face and teardrops falling behind her as they ran hand in hand trough the maze of the warehouse corridors. _

"_I love you Fluer what do you expect? Anyway let´s get out of here before we´re fish food."exclaimed Razor speeding up more, dragging her behind a bit but she chaught a glimpse of the cheeky and affectionate smile._

_They were fast approaching the door next to the sea - pool, but even so...it was too late. _

_A giant blast was heared as the detonator exploded and set off the dynamite. Razor and Reasque turned around catching a glmipse of the corridor they ran trough seconds ago as it was being eaten up by the flaming blast and was mere seconds from reaching the pair of them. Razor quickly grabbed Resaque by the waist and threw them into the pool just as the explosion´s flame missed them by inches. _

_Mere seconds later as they were certain that they were deep enough, they started to swim away, darting besides many pieces of iron and other materials which were sinking to the ocean floor. Outside the warehouse, which was leveled and burning Razor and Resaque broke the surface and gasped for breath._

"_By the way, _mon cher_... how did you know which warehouse Garoche took me?"she asked happy it was all over. _

"_Oh that was easy, love. Garoche was negotiating several deals, dealing with materials from his six warehouses. And only one was not used in his business for years. The one he got first, the one which business along with the cargo stored in it he abandoned as he turned his sights for high crime ten years ago. It makes sence that it would be the one he would let blow. Minimal damage. Plus if there was any evidence that could be used against him in there...its all cleared up now."_

_Resaque eyed him affectinately as he looked on at the burning warehouse._

"_This may be the only exception. With how _précautionneux_ he is."she said turning her sights to the warehouse too._

_Suddenly Razor tensed. _

"_Oh no! _Trois moyens_! How could I miss that?!"he exclaimed with a haunted look. _

"_What is it?"_

"_Le Pierre´s counterattack! I´ll explain on the way, but believe me Rainbows will need all the help he can get."_

"End of Chapter."said April happily as she raised her head from the book.

The crowd was eagerly springing into conversations eager to hear more.

"Wow I´m sooo happy that Razor rescued his girl."exclaimed Florence and many girls agreed with her.

"He´s an ace detective afterall."said Tex happily and most of the males in the schoolyard gave their own cheer of approval.

"Read the next chapter. I can hardly wait for what happens next."said Mr Weatherby in enthusiasm.

"My turn!"called Chloe happily reaching for the book which April passed to her and sat back down.

Chloe took the book cleared her throat. Suddenly she turned the page. Then another, and another and another...

"What´s going on?"asked Mr Barnaby as Chloe listed trough the remaining few pages.

Silence followed and some even got up from their sitting places as Chloe raised her head from the incredible novel.

"It...its all blank... the novel isn´t complete..."

...

It was late in the afternoon when Phil, Chichi and Lily exited Mrs Longline´s house. Waving goodbye to her and Mr Philips they turned and walked down the street.

"Well, we didn´t find out everything we wanted."summarized Lily with a giant sigh.

"Nothing that would point us forward in what happened to him. Though I really understand what his and Ripgrab´s feud was. And I thought my folks battling the Hubbubs was bad."said Chichi falling a bit behind, as he was still carrying Balthazar´s bag.

"But she wasn´t able to tell us anything about the chest or the necklace. Other than they really were made by him."sighed Phil sadly.

"And that the necklace was given to your grandfather as a memento following his dissapearance..."said Lily.

"...and sold in a yard sale before somehow finding its way to Miles´ hands, who passed it to you."finished Phil.

"Also that the Wizard´s guide to Green Sorcery that Mrs Longline passed to Buba was the only existing copy."Chichi shook his head.

"Well regardless of Balthazar not having the time to have it published, I can´t really imagine a publisher who would print it out. Its ... well unique."contemplated Lily as they walked.

"Which explains why I didn´t find it in any of the country´s publisher´s records on the net."nodded Phil.

"Why do I get the feeling that they didn´t tell us certain things on purpose though. Remember how they tensed when I mentioned the Sucellus Cult?"

Both Phil and Lily fixed him with looks.

"Maybe they don´t know as much about it, Chichi. Remember that most practitioners of Green Magic tended to keep it secret. For good reasons."said Phil as they stopped.

"Yeah and you remember what Mrs Longline and Mr Philips told us. Balthazar kept to himself especially in things like the Green Magic. The only other person who was in on his activities was Ezekiel remember?"added Lily.

Chichi however kept his thoughtfull expression.

"Green Magic is clearly connected to this thing. Lily, you mentioned that Philips warned you about not going to Balthazar´s house. I think that´s why they left out even the precious little they would know for sure. Nevermind. There´s still a way to find out about it ourselfs. And that means... "

Lily´s eyes were alight with excitement while Phil´s eyes shown slight fear.

"You mean..."they asked simultaniously.

Chichi nodded looking at them, determination burning in his eyes.

"At midnight, we visit Balthazar´s house!"

...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

April, Chloe and Emily sighed simultaniously as they overlooked the empty schoolyard. The sun was slowly setting and everyone else went home half an hour ago. Dissapointed as they were, it was nothing compared to what the three girls were currently feeling.

"Damn it! Such a cool novel – the first really interesting book I´ve ever read and its not complete!"exclaimed Chloe, unable to hold her dissapointment any longer.

"And just when the mystery was being unraveled. At the very highpoint, when all the key players of the syndicates were about to clash and Razor probably figured out who´s behind the gang war."added Emily sadly looking down at the stairs on which they were currently sitting on.

"At least he and Madame Resaque are together now. But I´d love to hear the end of this."nodded April.

A small moment of silence followed as the three girls racked their brains.

"One thing I never wondered about is... _who wrote this_? I mean its all handwritten and the notebook seems kinda fresh. If we could only find the author..."mused Chloe looking at the book in her hands.

April and Emily looked at her as though in revelation.

"I didn´t think about that either..."said Emily, which was uncharacteristic for her.

Being the sharpest one of their group, Emily ussualy picked up on small details way sooner than any of them did.

"D´you think that someone from Beauvillage wrote this? Who could it be?"asked April with renewed excitement.

"Let´s check the handwriting!"exclaimed Chloe with equal excitement as she opened the book.

The three girls scanned the book troughoutly for minutes, searching for anything that might be recodnizable to any of them. Handwriting, notes or even a signature but ultimately to no avail.

"Oh man! Nothing!"grumbled Chloe as she closed the book with a snap.

"The handwriting seemed kinda familiar to me, but I have no idea who could it belong to."said April as she lowered her head.

"Now what...?"asked Emily hopelessly and another moment of silence followed.

"No idea."said Chloe sadly.

"I have an idea!"exclaimed April, rising up.

The two girls looked at her.

"Chichi! Let´s ask Chichi for help. I´m sure that he and Phil will be able to find whoever wrote this. If they live in Beauvillage that is."she said confidently.

Chloe nodded.

"You´re right, April! Chichi solved stuff that was much more complex than this. D´you think he will help us with this?"

April nodded happily.

"I´ll ask him. And you know him. No way he´ll say no to _me_."

Chloe gave a happy whoop and embraced April happily, both girls jumping up and down.

"With Chichi´s help we´ll find out who wrote this in no time! Aaand find out the rest of the story!"squealed Chloe in mad happiness.

Emily however was looking at the two skepticly.

"I don´t know about this... I mean Chichi´s good at stuff like machines and all, but do you think he´ll be up for this?"

The two stopped jumping and turned to her.

"Of course he´s up for it. Chichi can handle _anything_."said April staunchly.

"He´s proven that more than enough times before. Besides d´you have a better idea?"asked Chloe.

Emily smiled a little to herself.

"Yes. I´ll ask Archie. He and the Brotherhood of the Wise can solve this. I mean there´s detective Wiseman leading them and under his wing they will be as good as detective Razor."

April quickly placed a hand to her mouth to stop the laugh threatening to escape. The gesture wasn´t missed by Emily.

"What´s so funny April? You don´t think they´re up to it?"she asked coolly.

April sighed.

"Sorry Emmy, but I just don´t think they will be able to. Or even be interested in solving it in the first place."she said carefully, not really wanting to argue with her friend.

"Archie will do it for me."replied Emily staunchly, crossing her arms for good measure.

Chloe looked from one to the other and quickly cleared her throat in the hope of stopping something which was bound to become an argument.

"Girls, here´s an idea. Why not ask both parties at the same time. Emmy will ask Archie and the brotherhood and April will ask Chichi and Phil. I mean with more people on the lookout, this little mystery may be solved quicker and we can read the rest of the novel, right?"she said in a voice of reason.

Both girls looked at her and seemed to consider it. Suddenly they turned to eachother and smiled as though nothing had happened.

"Right. You´ll ask Archie then?"asked April happily.

Emily nodded and stood up too.

"Right now in fact. And I´ll leave it to you to ask Chichi."

Without another word, the two sprinted out of the schoolyard leaving Chloe there with a bewildered look on her face. After a moment she sighed.

"Sheesh these two can be so... firm with eachother when their boys are concerned."she said to herself.

Though when she thought about it, she supposed it was a good thing...

...

"So we meet at the edge of Beauvillage Forest half an hour before midnight ok?"

Phil and Lily nodded as they were exiting the Hidehole. Chichi already got to work on making a make-shift raft which would take them to the island on Beauvillage Lake. As the twosome walked down the now familiar road trough the forest their minds were fully aware on what they were about to do.

"I´m happy that Chichi had taken to the idea with so much enthusiasm."said Lily smilingly.

"Well you know him...once something catches his attention, _nothing_ stops him."commented Phil shaking his head.

This was the single most troublesome trait he found on his best friend. It tended to get them into trouble as often as it solved matters. And something was telling him, that thistime will be no different.

"I wonder how the interior of the house will look after all these years. Philips said that no one ever went there since Balthazar´s dissapearance. Imagine what we could find there."said Lily with excitement that mimicked that of Chichi´s.

Phil shuddered.

"I´m not sure I want to imagine what we´ll find. Or who..."he said the last two words quietly, but Lily heared them nonetheless and rolled her eyes.

"Oh come on, Phil. You don´t believe in ghosts do you?"

He looked at her with a straight face.

"I don´t believe in ghosts, Lil. Its just that, like any other sensible person, I´m _afraid_ of them."

In a single instant Lily was in a fit of giggles and Phil joined in after only a few moments after realizing what he said.

"Come ooon, Philip... even Cracker is braver than that...and he _is_ chicken."she smirked at him, wiggling her eyebrows.

Phil returned her comment with an irritated sort of smile.

"Being brave is one thing and being careless is another."he said crossing his arms.

Lily giggled once more, before she started to make chicken sounds. Phil pouted.

"Oh you´ll pay for that."

He tried to reach for her, but she sprang into a small sprint. With a mischievous smile, he started to run after her, only to find that she sped up into a full-on run, giggling all the way. Speeding up after her the two teens took a different turn which lead onto the hill overlooking Beauvillage, reaching it after several moments neighter one of them slowing down. Gaining up on her, Phil picked up the speed one final time until he finally caught her by the arm. Spinning her wildly he managed to make her stop as he grabbed her by the shoulders. However in the swift spin Lily lost her balance and fell down to the grassy ground, grabbing Phil´s arms for support but only dragging him down along with her. As they fell onto the grassy field, the fall rolled them down the hill for a few moments before finally Phil ended up on the ground with Lily on top of him. Both were still laughing slightly as they were fighting to catch their breaths.

"Now...look...what...you...did."she scolded playfully between the breaths.

"You...started...it..."he replied, equally gasping for breath.

As Lily giggled again with her eyes closed, Phil realized the position they were in. Instantly he blushed deep red and he was getting that same confusing set of feelings he was experiencing lately. Luckily Lily got off him still giggling as she sat down on the grass next to him and didn´t notice.

"Anyway I don´t think its ghosts we´ll have to worry about in the house. I´m looking forward to finding out more about Balthazar and the Green Magic. Maybe we´ll even encounter something regarding the Sucellus Cult in there."she said as she overlooked Beauvillage from the place where she was seated.

Phil slowly raised himself off the ground, sitting up and nodding.

"Yeah. We may even find out some clues as to what happened to him or even the key to that chest and find out what´s in there. Maybe we can use the gemstone as a compas again."

"Oh that reminds me..."said Lily before she reached into her shirt and pulled out the necklace.

Phil watched wide-eyed as Lily took the necklace off her neck and passed it to him in her palm.

"It should be yours. Take it."she said simply a gentle smile playing on her lips.

"Lily...I can´t... Miles gave it to you...I..."

Lily shook her head.

"It was given to your grandfather as a memento of Balthazar. You should have it. You can use it tonight."she said kindly.

Phil bit his lower lip. Sighing Lily moved towards him and with an affectionate look placed the necklace around his neck. Adverting her eyes, Phil studied the necklace for a second and was instantly overcome by emotion when he thought about its former owner. His eyes burned with unshed tears but he refused to let them out. Lily seemed to know what was going on and wrapped him in a gentle hug. They stayed like that for a minute as Phil was trying to find his voice as he returned it.

"Finding out that he was Balthazar´s friend and all that... it reminded me...I... I just miss him, Lil."

He felt Lily´s arms tighten and positively melted into her embrace. He could also feel her hand going to his head and stroking his hair in a consoling way.

"I know how much he meant to you. _That´s_ why I think you should have the necklace. Also when I think about all the others who want to know what happened to Balthazar – the mayor, Philips, Mrs Longline, I want to get to the bottom of this..."

Phil tought about it for a second. It was a very good point.

"You´re right Lil. But it doesn´t change the fact, that we should be carefull...we don´t know what may lay hidden there..."

He felt Lily giggle. Her hand on his head ruffled his hair in an affectionate manner.

"Don´t worry my little chicken. I´ll protect you from the spooks."she said cheekily, giggling some more.

He chuckled too. For some reason, he was feeling much better than he expected to.

...

"He´s not home...?"repeated April dumbly as she looked at the Tofus and the Hubbubs who were sitting in the yard having a nice Sunday afternoon.

"You know him, April. He´s out with Phil and Lily. They´re busy with their project I expect."said Mom as she was pouring her some tea as April sat down at the big outdoor table.

April looked down sadly.

"What´s so urgent April?"inquired Billy as he was helping himself to one of the fruit cups Mom and Beth prepared.

"Well... we just finished reading that novel Chloe found."she started to explain.

Beth gave a happy squeal.

"Oh yes, that novel you´ve told me about. How was it? What was it about?"

The others looked at April with equal curiosity. She took a small sip from her tea before answering.

"It was real cool. A detective novel. But it has so many interesting twists, its funny and exciting. And the main characters are really good."

This brought several smiles towards her.

"Its nice that you young ones like reading books and novels. I was worried about it, since most youngsters would rather watch tv or sit behind computers."said Buba nodding approvingly.

"Detective novel, huh? I always loved those when I was a kid."added Titus, smiling and crossing his arms, eyes closed as he immersed himself in his memory.

Billy fixed him with a most surprised look nearly choking on his fruit.

"You... you did?"

Titus laughed.

"You didn´t know _this _about your old man, huh? When I was 6, I wanted to be a detective."

Mom, Beth, Buba, Lola and April giggled at this while Billy´s look of stunned surprise increased.

"I always favoured adventure themed ones. Me and my brothers often read them together. We always dreamed of becoming explorers when we grew up."chuckled Pop also recollecting the memory fondly.

"Yeah and uncle Barty really made it."said Lola thinking of Pop´s younger brother who indeed became an explorer and a zoologist.

"I favoured romance novels. But every now and then I read one or two adventured ones too."said Beth.

"Well I went trough quite a lot when I was a young girl. Though they were not as easy to get, since I lived at the countryside for most of my life and back then we only went into bigger cities once every few months. Perhaps that´s why I practicly ate any book that ever reached me."nodded Buba.

"So you wanted to show this novel to Chichi, April? I´d be gratefull for that. I´m afraid that my little sparrow is spending too much time on his projects. A little fiction might do him good. I can´t even remember the last time I saw him reading a book."said Mom.

Lola giggled.

"_I _can. When he was 7 and reading Froggy Fred."

April smiled fondly. Froggy Fred was a children´s book which was very popular during her childhood. Plus this may explain his liking towards frogs, which were his favourite animal.

"Aww... how adorable."squealed Beth claping her hands.

"I think we still have a picture of that somewhere."commented Buba.

"I´ll be sure to show it to you when I find it, April."said Lola winking at her.

Mom smiled affectionately recalling the memory of a 7 year old Chichi reading that book with a cheerfull smile before bed, then she sighed.

"Nowadays he only reads comic books. I´m not sure that makes good carma."

"Comic books aren´t that bad."murmured Billy, who was secretly a comic book fan too.

Indeed over the years he managed to keep this a secret and only extended it towards Lola, Chichi and Phil, sharing a genuine interest with the two boys.

"But a good old fashioned book is a healthy thing, Billy. It does wonders for the imagination."said Pop kindly.

Lola snorted recalling her brother´s projects and what ussually insued during or after them.

"If you ask me, Chichi has a healthy imagination as it is. In fact _too_ healthy sometimes."

April and Billy nodded with a smile.

"Be sure to bring that novel over sometimes, April. I think we´d all like to read it."said Pop to general agreement.

April however looked sad again.

"You see, that´s what I wanted to talk to him about. We found that the novel we have isn´t complete. But its handwritten and it looks recent. Chloe and I believe that the author may be from Beauvillage. I wanted to ask him to help us find him."

A small moment of silence followed, everyone´s thoughts on who could it be.

"WASSUUUUUUUUP!"

The loud yell from behind them made them all jump. Curly and Suzie jumped too and immediatly made a mad dash towards them, nearly knocking Pop and Billy over as they hid beneath the table. Cracker crowed too and jumped onto Buba´s lap. As one all of them turned towards the source of the racket.

"MILES! DON´T SCARE US LIKE THAT!" Lola screamed out, glaring the figure in the door leading into the house.

Michael Miles was back. Big as life, twice as cocky and holding a kind of black drum over his shoulder as he walked up to them, chuckling and grinning like mad.

"Sorry Lola. I´m just worked up from the weekend that´s all."

Cracker instantly crowed again and flew up from Buba´s lap, landing on Miles´ other shoulder.

"Missed you too, Crack."he said patting the rooster on the head.

"Cracker! Who´s rooster _are_ you?!"exclaimed Lola glaring the pair.

"Nice to see you´re back Miles. How was your weekend?"asked Mom smiling brightly at him as he set the black drum on the ground and sat down at the table.

He grinned back happily.

"It was amazing. Me, Roger and the gang had a great time. Lots of fun."

"What kept you? We expected you yesterday."said Pop smiling at him.

"Well when we got up yesterday, we all decided to go on a small camping trip to the Widefield forrest."he explained.

"Just like that? Just get up and go?"asked April in surprise.

"Well...yeah. So we went in my van. However, when we got there we realized, that we have no food, no booze and no cigarretes – so we went back."

The explanation prompted a few snorts of laughter, while Lola slapped her palm to her forehead.

"Figures."she grumbled, while Billy chuckled.

"But then Clarence had a cool idea as we approached Widefield valley. He knew of a garden with an old fashioned wine cellar run by his grandfather´s friend. So we went there. The old man however had some trouble when we got there."

He sighed and shook his head.

"73 years old – well we just had to help him. We helped him make wine as he had so much to do, what with his harvest being as big as it was. So we spent most of the day there and slept over. It was cool. I mean we used most of the fruit he had to make it. He always does it like that and he was gratefull for it. Trouble was, that he had an entire cellar full of drums and needed space. He said that no one in Widefield village wants it."

Lola sighed again.

"Let me guess. You graceously offered to take them off his hands."

"Not for free Lola. I´m not that mean. I offered a price for them and he was shocked since it was more than he expected. Anyway, I bought 26 drums of his Fruitshake Wine."he explained, hands raised in a defensive posture.

"Fruitshake wine? Is it any good?"asked Pop with bright curiousity.

"Its the best! We had some of it during the evening. Very tasty. That´s why I brought this drum over here – taste some yourselfs."he said pointing to the black drum at his feet.

Pop and Titus looked at their wives who held their gazes for a while before looking at eachother.

"Ah, why not..."said Beth with a shrug.

Mom nodded and stood up.

"I´ll go get the glasses. Want some too, Mom?"she asked Buba who nodded.

"Bring two more for Billy and Lola."she said.

"Mooom! They´re just kids. They´re still too young!"argues Mom, ignoring her daughter´s eyeroll.

Buba folded her arms and shook her head.

"Nonsence Vi. They´re 17 and one glass won´t hurt. You don´t mind, do you Beth, Titus?"she asked the Hubbub parents.

"You´re right. One taste couldn´t hurt. If you two want to that is..."said Beth before looking at her son and his girlfriend, who exchanged a small look then nodded.

Recodnizing defeat, Mom sighed before she went into the house with Pop at her heels going over to help her. Miles in the meantime started to fiddle with the opening of the drum.

"_Hocus...pocus...Ca-ca-ca- Caramba..._"

Miles swiftly reached into his pocket and drew his cell phone.

"Yo! Arnie, good call. Listen I have _das Incredible_ deal for ya. ... Yeah...sure... but that´s old news... well I have your solution right here – I have giga ultra hyper turbo extra mega wine... yeah 20 drums... yeah... how much...? fifty for a drum...what?... fifteen, I said _fifteen_...yeah...sure...its the best...what?... nah it ain´t french wine – that´s sewer water compared to this...yeah exactly...but that´s why its fifteen and that´s just _my_ price for you, I mean people in Europe sell these to the Japanese for fivehundred at the least – they sure know how to live...yeah...the drum is a 30 liter...yeah...I´ll stop by in the morning...you got it...sure...it´s called...uh..._WIIINOOO_...yeah like that...uh, that´s cuz if you drink enough you´ll be saying everything in slow and lengthy words...sure have six or seven glasses and you won´t know where you are...yeah...cool...tommorow then."

He ended the call and looked at the cellphone with a long happy sigh.

"Mama-mia... _business_."

April, Beth and Buba giggled and the males chuckled. Lola however fixed him with a skeptical stare.

"Europeans sell this to the Japanese?"she asked shaking her head.

Miles looked at her confusedly.

"How can they? This stuff isn´t even on the market."

This prompted a fit of laughter from all others as Lola sighed and rolled her eyes.

"I knew it. How much did you pay for them anyway?"she asked over the laughter.

"Five for a drum. Hey...the old man wanted three."he said defencively as the others were gasping for breath.

"How did you come up with the name for it?"asked April smilingly.

Miles grinned at her.

"If you´d seen me and the boys yesterday evening you´d know exactly why it´s called like that."

Another wave of laughter rang as Pop and Mom returned with the glasses.

"Anyway, how was your weekend guys? What´s new in Beauvillage?"

Everyone sobered up and looked at him as he started to pour the wine into the glasses.

"I thought you´d never ask."said April before they started to fill them in.

...

"Handcuffs?"

"Check."

"Flashlights?"

"Check."

"Photo-camera?"

A sharp flash of light blinked in the office lighting it and promting everone to close their eyes, but a moment too late. Only the person working the camera - a shorter boy with long light-brown shaggy hair and a red baseball hat wasn´t affected. Putting the camera down he grinned at the trio in front of him, who were blindly wobbling from side to side as their eyes were trying to adjust.

"Double check."he said before noticing it.

"What´s wrong, brothers?"he asked as they were rubbing their eyes.

"Archie you..."Nick growled glaring at him, his eyes sporting some tears.

"Boy, that camera has one hell of a flash."commented Tex, wiping _his_ tears.

"Nevermind my brothers. Now we are ready for our midnight mission."said Wiseman, his eyes now cleared but he still blinked a few times.

"Wait. There´s one more thing we have to take."said Nick, before turning to his three brothers.

"Sunglasses."

"Triple check."exclaimed all four simultanously.

...

Elsewhere in Beauvillage, at the egde of Beauvillage Forest another group just met.

"Ready?"asked Chichi, a backpack on his back and fully prepared for their midnight investigation. His left hand was holding a handle, which was connected to a fairly large box like object on wheels. On the top of it was a strange kind of rubber pile. In his right hand were two pole-like objects which looked like broom handles.

Lily and Phil nodded, both having backpack of their own and the trio started to walk down the forest. Once sure, that no one in the nearby houses could spot it, Chichi passed the handles to Phil, lit up his flashlight and the two kept close to him, each from one of his sides as they moved towards the lake.

"So how are we going to get there?"asked Lily in a whisper.

Chichi grinned into the darkness.

"Well, the thing I´m pulling behind me is our boat. All we have to do is pump up the rubber at its sides. I have the pump in the backpack."he explained.

"And these handles are to help us row, right?"asked Phil.

"Yup. I´ve also made fins for the top, so that it goes easier. They´re in the boat."he said.

In a few minutes they came out of the embrace of the dark forest and came to a beautyfull clearing. Infront of them was Beauvillage Lake – large, spread across kilometers of forest. The moon shone very brightly, iluminating the water and the clearings incircling the lake.

"Full moon... Sooo beautyfull. Good thing we chose such a nice night."commented Lily as she looked at the incredible view while the boys were setting up the raft.

"Yeah...nice."murmured Phil trembling a bit.

If he had to admit it to himself, the view was beautyfull. But the full moon along with the possibility of encountering the feared ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood or any for that matter was giving him the chills. Chichi on the other hand looked like he was unstoppable. Working on the raft, the determined look on his face –which his friends were very familiar with by now, was at its highpoint as though the genius was only an inch from all the knowledge of the world.

"Finished."said Chichi.

"Wow, that was fast."commented Lily as she turned to them.

"Well I made it, so that it can be set up and folded in quickly."he said as he and Phil pushed the raft to the lake very easily thanks to the wheels on its bottom.

Following them, Lily could barely contain her excitement as the boat set itself neatly on the surface of the lake. Chichi wasted no time in climbing in. Phil handed him one of the poles, now the fin attached to the end of it. Lily looked at him as he held the other pole in his hand.

"After you, Lily."he said with a smile.

Returning it, Lily climbed on and Phil after her. The two boys started to row and they moved from the bank. The raft even with them was light enough and with the male-power, the boat was moving fast enough. Lily couldn´t help but giggle to herself. The boys looked at her inquiringly.

"I was only thinking about how lucky I am. I mean, how many girls get to enjoy a night as beautyfull as this, floating on the calm waters of the lake while being spoiled by _two_ boys."

The comment drew laughs from both of them.

"I bet the girls in your class would be green with envy."said Chichi happily.

"Yeah. Except the fact that this isn´t a date."noted Phil, still blushing a bit from both her comment and his.

"For the first time boys, I don´t mind. The experience itself is lovely enough."said Lily brightly.

"But for some reason, I think that the fun is going to be over real soon."said Phil as they were nearing the island, which was coming closer.

"HOOOOOOO"

The sound echoed trough the lake and the forests. Phil yelped and jumped a bit. The raft shook from side to side violently.

"Phil! Watch it! I nearly fell over!"exclaimed Chichi, who regained his balance with some difficulty.

"What...what was _that_?!"exclaimed Phil, his voice a bit higher than ussual as he was looking from side to side franticly.

"An owl. They live in the forest you know."explained Chichi shaking his head.

"Is it just me, or was that a bit too...loud to be an owl?"pondered Lily as the boys resumed their rowing.

"Come on, Lily. Not you too. Of course it was an owl. Here in the Beauvillage Forest they are quite a few of them."said Chichi as the island was getting closer.

"HOOOOOOO"

Phil fought it thistime, but he still shook a little. Even Lily looked a bit scared now.

"Looks like a lot more, than I thought. Anyway, we´re nearly there."remarked Chichi, pointing ahead of him.

The small island was now near enough for them to see the large three-story house in all its spooky glory. The trees near it looked dead, for even from this length the teens could see that they held no leaves and their branches looked like clawed hands. Phil shook a bit again.

"Why do I feel, that I´m not going to like this."he commented shakily.

"Sheesh, man-up Phil. Its just an old house."said Chichi with an eyeroll.

"I can´t say I blame him, Chichi. This is the spookiest house I have ever seen."noted Lily as they were close to the island.

"Well call forth all your bravery because..."

The boat bumped with the shore of the island.

"...we have arrived."finished Chichi as he jumped out of the raft.

"Well, here we are."said Lily to herself, looking straight at the house infront of them.

Phil also looked at the house, not really eager to get out of the raft.

"Phil, get out and help me take the raft ashore."said Chichi impatiently.

As the boys pulled the raft out of the water, Lily looked at the tall grass around the trees and what used to be a soil pavement that led to the porch and the front door to the house. Then she looked at the wooden house. Dispite the fact that time undoubtably played its magic on it, transforming it into this creepy looking building, the house looked remarkably preserved for a building that was unoccupied and abandoned for 20 years. Even the windows were still whole and undamaged. As she looked from one of the windows to the other, she spot something that made her gasp. For a second, just as she was moving her sights towards the next window, she thought she saw the shadow of a figure in the window. Shifting her gaze quickly back towards the window, she breathed a sigh.

"_Nothing there. Of course. The house was abandoned for two decades. Who in their right mind would be there?_"she thought to herself as Phil ran up to her with Chichi following.

"I heared you gasp. What is it?"he asked urgently.

Lily smiled at them before shaking her head.

"Nothing. Just a trick of light."

Phil looked at her skepticly but nodded. The two looked in front of them to see Chichi moving towards the porch trough the high grass. Looking at eachother they nodded and followed.

"The door is exactly like the mayor discribed. Like the chest. Oakwood and animals carved into it."said Chichi examining the door.

Though a bit writhered by time and the outdoor conditions, the door still looked very strong. On it there was a carving of a wolf, goat, bull, falcon, bear, cat and dog in various positions and several symbols on the sides of it.

"Those symbols. They´re exactly like the symbols on the statues."remarked Lily as she pulled out the photo-camera from Phil´s bag and made a picture of it.

Chichi turned the doorknob and opened the door.

"Unlocked?"breathed Phil wide-eyed.

"Of course. Look."said Chichi pointing to the side of it, where the lock should be.

"The lock was ripped out. Probably years ago."

Phil gulped.

"Why do I feel, that this..."

"HOOOOOOO"

Phil gave a loud yelp and spun around wildly. Lily giggled while Chichi rolled his eyes. She placed a hand on his shoulder and ruffled his hair with her other.

"You´re so cute when you´re scared."she said humorously.

"Damn owls."he muttered, his cheeks burning in a deep blush.

"Well...here we go."said Chichi lighting his flashlight and stepping in.

Phil and Lily followed. The trio found themselfs in a large antechamber, which had two staircases and a long hallway with many doors. Statues were lining it from both sides, exactly as the mayor discribed it to them.

"So...this is it. The home of Balthazar Bunglewood."breathed Chichi in excitement, looking from one place to the other.

Suddenly the front door closed with a loud snap, causing the trio to spin their heads around wildly.

"Wh...what...?"stammered Phil, looking at the closed door as the three stood there with only Chichi´s flashlight as the lightsource in the dark house.

"HOOOOOOOOOOO"

"HOOOOOO"

...


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Will you calm the hell down?!"exclaimed Chichi as his best friend was shaking uncontrollably looking as though he might pass out.

Lily also looked scared now. Sighing Chichi moved to the door and examined it. Suddenly he let out a laugh.

"I got it. Look..."

He opened the door wide and stepped back. The door was slowly moving back until it snapped closed again. Looking at him in revelation the two moved towards him as he approached the closed door. He pointed to the hinges, which looked to be custum made.

"See? This little valve does the trick. With this, the door will close automaticly. And this little thing here linked to the doorknob, it keeps the door from being opened by itself from both inside and outside. Meaning that with doors made out of strong wood like this, only the doorknob can open them. _Too much!_ I have to get the desighn for that"he said happily.

Phil and Lily breathed a sigh of relief.

"See, Phil? There´s nothing to worry about."said Lily in a soothing voice.

"HOOOOOOO"

"Sheesh. Those owls are really abundant around here."muttered Chichi before going back to the foot of the hallway.

"Ok, what now? I say, let´s check the upstairs first. Or do we split up and take a floor each?"asked Lily looking upstairs.

"No way I´m splitting up."said Phil at once, looking around the surroundings franticly.

Chichi rolled his eyes.

"You mentioned something about him being more chicken than Cracker, Lily?"he said in a whisper.

Lily giggled. She did say that to Chichi as they waited for Phil to show up. Though she would never do something to ridicule him, she knew that this was safe with his best friend. But all in all she found Phil´s fearfull nature...well...adorable. It remined her of the time when they were kids... she felt like a big sister at those times... he used to cling to her back then ...

Quickly she shook her head in order to clear it and thought about the situation at hand.

"Here´s an idea. Phil and me will check the first floor and you check the second ok?"

Chichi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Finally someone who´s not afraid."he muttered before reaching into his backpack.

He pulled out two more flashlights, lit them and passed them to Lily who in turn passed one to Phil. Without another word the trio moved up the leftside staircase stopping at the first floor. Looking around they saw another long hallway ahead of them, though with only two doors visible and another long hallway which led to another staircase.

"Lucky I have a spare photocamera. Anyway, let´s regroup down in the antechamber later on, ok? And don´t forget, anything interesting, any symbol or statue – make a photo."said Chichi before moving up the hallway towards the stairs for the second floor. Flashing them another glance and a small smile, he dissapeared as he climbed upwards.

Phil and Lily looked at eachother.

"Well, Philip let´s dig up some evidence."said Lily smilingly.

"Yeah... I´d better get the gemstone out, just to be sure."

He reached out into his shirt and pulled out the necklace Lily gave him this afternoon.

"HOOOOOO"

Phil jumped again and instantly grabbed the first thing he could – Lily. Lily giggled as Phil shook against her back. Grabbing him gently, she placed a arm around his shoulder and pressed him to her.

"Remember what I said, Philip? I´ll keep the spooks away. I promise."

With that the two began to move across the first floor hallway. Chichi looked around the room, carefully scanning the second floor hallway, which had only one door visible way ahead of him.

"Hm...what could be in there..."he pondered.

Suddenly he felt something move behind him. Instantly he spun his head back.

"Phil? Lily?"he questioned, but found no responce.

Suddenly for some reason, the air around him felt really cold. He could even see his breath as spoke. Before he could even ponder what was going on, the temperature was normal again.

"Wierd."he muttered to himself as he looked towards the window.

Turning towards it he looked out of it and for a second saw a blinding flash come from the lake.

"What the hell was that?"

He thought about it for a while.

"Nah, impossible. Who in their right minds could come here? Especially at this time of the night?"he said to himself as he turned back and walked into the hallway.

As he turned and started to walk the hallway towards the door he didn´t catch a glimpse of another flash which was seen from the lake.

...

"All right Archie, two pictures should be enough."said Wiseman as he looked at the rapidly approaching island.

Nick and Tex were rowing the old police boat that Wiseman borrowed form the station.

"Sheesh, it looks like no one used this boat in a while."commented Nick as he rowed.

"Lingsters said, that last time they used it was when my father investigated the case. In fact, this was the very boat he rode in."said Wiseman smiling to himself.

The boys looked awed by this piece of knowledge.

"That means that we just _have_ to suceed."said Tex happily.

Wiseman nodded and turned his sights to the house again. Archie however looked a bit wierd at them.

"Guys...is it just me, or do my feet feel...wet!"he exclaimed the last word and the remaining three looked quickly at their feet.

Indeed the wooden boat was old, perhaps too old. It was leaking water which was slowly rising up.

"Oh no! What do we do now?!"exclaimed Tex as all four of them panicked.

"Quickly! Row faster!"commanded Wiseman.

Nick and Tex started to paddle faster but it didn´t do any good. In fact the water was starting to flow in even faster. Not to mention that the two used up so much energy that they had to stop and were rapidly gasping for air. The boat however was still at a considerable distance from the island.

"What do we do now?"asked Wiseman, completly losing his head.

All four were silent for a moment, desperately racking their brains for a solution. Suddenly Archie stood up, an idea in his head – though maybe not the best one. He turned to the side of the boat and kicked with all the strength he could muster. His right foot went cleanly trough the old wood, a big hole left once he pulled his foot out.

"What d´you do that for?!"bellowed Nick as the two others were too shocked to say a thing.

"We need another hole, so the water can pour out."said Archie proudly, crossing his arms.

"Excellent idea, Archie! That should clear it up right away."said Wiseman approovingly.

However the "plan" did not work as planned, much the opposite. The water started to pour even faster now and the foursome was only staring dumbly as their ship was sinking fast.

"Uh...I don´t understand...how could it happen?"exclaimed Archie who was looking from side to side, as they were starting to descend into the lake.

"I thought it was fool-prooooooof"exclaimed Wiseman, as the foursome sank completly into the water, which was not excatly bath-water especially during the night.

"Ah...cold, cold cold...!"exclaimed Tex as he was flinging his arms swiftly.

"Damn it! At least stop splashing will ya?!"exclaimed Nick.

"All our backpacks! All the equipment went to the bottom of the lake."said Archie.

"Nevermind boys, we have no choice but to swim there."said Wiseman turning his head towards the house.

"But its so far away."whined Tex who like all four of them was shivering from the cold water.

"Shut up and start swiming before we freeze to death."exclaimed Nick as both he and Wiseman started to swim towards the island.

Tex turned his head to Archie, who nodded.

"Who knows, maybe we´ll find some towels in there."

...

"A...are you sure, that going to the very end of the hallway is a good idea, Lily?"asked Phil nervously as the twosome was walking hand in hand.

"Why not? I mean we have to look at every room anyway, why not start from the behind and work our way back to the stairs."reasoned Lily as they took a small turn, for the hallway was starting to turn into a circullar shaped one.

They walked slowly, eyes open and stopped to look at some of the paintings which were hung on the walls.

"This is a very nice one."commented Phil as Lily pointed her flashlight at one of them.

The painting was a simple one, just a nice sunset over a landscape which was a bit familiar to both of them.

"Yeah. Very nice scenery."agreed Lily as she scrubbed a bit of dust from the painting.

"Wow, look."exclaimed Phil suddenly pointing to the right down side of the painting.

Lily gasped too.

"Beauvillage outskirts 1932... Matilda Longline... oh my..."she breathed out, placing her free hand on her mouth.

"Well, Mrs Longline said that she was a painter in her youth, but I didn´t expect anything like this..."said Phil completly awed.

He let go of her hand and took out the photocamera they had and swiftly made a picture as Lily examined the painting trying to recodnize the place.

"Beauvillage outskirts... hey that´s Ringer Street now. This was how it looked like almost 80 years ago..."breathed Lily in realization.

"So this is how it looked all those years ago... just a clearing with a forest nearby..."said Phil looking at the painting.

Turning his sight on Lily he saw, that she was looking a bit somber.

"And what became of it now... a busy street with lots of houses... I think I kinda understand what Balthazar was getting at."

"You´re right... I never thought of it that way..."said Phil, his voice just as somber.

"_Ah, that´s how it goes..._"

Both of them jumped at the low, quiet and sad voice they heared behind them. Both turned immediatly looking around, flashing their flashlights from one side to the other but only to find that there was nothing there. Turning to eachother, their faces reflected the same shocked look.

"D...did you hear that?"he asked in panic.

"But... there´s no one here but us..."she breathed back just as panicly.

A moment´s silence endured.

"We... we might´ve just imagined it...right?"she asked eyeing her companion, who nodded frevently.

"Y...yeah...just imagined it...l...let´s move on, ´k Lil?"he said turning to the turn of the hallway.

"You´re right."she said quietly.

However as Phil started to move, he felt Lily´s hand gently grasp his again. Looking at her he noted the slightly scared look on her face, but there was some curiosity and determination in there too. Smiling at her slightly and fighting a huge blush he turned and along with her walked on towards the end of the curcullar hallway. As they came out of it they had another long hallway ahead of them, which ended at a glassed wall, which had a door built into them and looked like to be the passage to a balcony. On both sides of the hallway there way a door leading into a room. Exchanging a glance they nodded.

"Let´s check them out."said Phil as they made their way to the door at the end of the hallway.

...

The door opened sqeakily as Chichi stepped into the room. Just like Phil and Lily, he decided to walk trough the entire hallway before entering one of the doors. What baffled him immediatly was why did the long straight hallway turn circular before leading into another long one. However he decided to solve this riddle later, since there was something that caught his attention the instant the hallway turned straight again. There was only one single door on the left side, but it was flanked by two statues – and owl and a falcon. He took a picture of both plus the flanked doorway before entering the door. Now he flashed his flashlight across the spacy room, trying to figure out what could it be used for.

"HOOOOOO"

In an instant the flashlight came into contact with a living owl, which made its displeasure known before flying out the large hole which was made into the wall. Chichi breathed out a sigh of relief before flashing his flashlight around looking around the room. The room was spacy indeed, but it didn´t have any furniture at all. In fact all it had was shelfs, which hosted a number of...

"Bird nests?"he breathed quietly looking from one to the other.

The room was large enough to accumulate quite a large number of birds. But it had no cage. Instead it had make-shift shelfs holding nests, much like the one Mom had made on the Tofu yard. This made Chichi understand.

"_Balthazar always loved every animal. He always saw something special in each and every one of them. Wolfes, cats, foxes, dogs, birds... he always said that we people have a lot to learn from our nature-brothers. He was also a huge fan of history. I remember the time when he wanted me to paint him mythological creatures from greek legends, like the legend of Icarus..._"

Chichi now knew what Mrs Longline meant. And knew exactly where she painted the said legend. The painting was on the wall, holding both Daidalos and Icarus on one wall, a number of various birds on another one and even Harpies and various birdmen on the third one, all of which had shelfs bigger or smaller to host various birds which were welcome to nest there. In the centre of the room was a small circle with a large eagle wooden statue in the centre of it. Quickly taking snapshots of the room and the statue, he moved closer to examine it. Unsurprisingly he found that there were mineral stones in its eyes and on the base of the statue there was a small tablet. Looking curiously he read the writing on it.

_Free wings_

_Free skies_

_We humans have a lot to envy_

Reading it, Chichi remembered one of the verses from Wizard´s Guide to Green Sorcery: _While reaching for the stars, one must always know to remember his place and come back to the ground._

"Wow... there´s a lot to consider in here. Who would´ve thought, that someting as simple as flying, which the bird represents could induce so much philosophy..."he mused to himself smilingly.

"_Smart one, this boy..._"

Chichi turned to the sound of the low aprooving voice he thought he heared from the doorway. Turning towards it, flashlight in hand he found that there was nothing in there. Thinking to himself for a moment, he wasn´t sure if he imagined it, or not.

"HOOOOOO"

He turned to the sound of an owl in the opening which was hooting a bit impatiently.

"All right. I get the point. I won´t disturb you any longer."he said to it with a smile before making his way towards the door.

Exiting from the room, he could´ve sworn he heared the same aprooving voice chuckle before he closed the door after himself.

...

"That...that was...one hell of a swim..."breathed Tex as he and the rest of the brotherhood were lying on the shore of the island.

"Tell...me...about...it."agreed Archie equally gasping for breath.

"We...rest a bit... and then...go on... with the...investigation."breathed Wiseman.

"HOOOOOOO"

The sound made them all jump from the ground.

"Wh...what was that?!"exclaimed Archie looking from side to side.

"I...I don´t know!..."

Tex was mimicking his movements as Nick and Wiseman looked curiously at the house.

"HOOOOOO"

Tex and Archie immediatly jumped at eachother, holding eachother for support as they both shook in fear.

"What´re you stupid?! Look!"exclaimed Nick impatiently while pointing to the sky.

In the moonlight, just faintly visible in the sky there were shapes of birds flying from the house over the lake into the nearby forests.

"Owls, dumbasses!"explained Nick.

The two, realizing it let go of eachother and turned to the place where Wiseman was looking.

"B...brother Frederick?"piped up Archie as soon as he approached his "older brother", who was looking internly at the wodden house.

"Look at this boys. This mystified my grandfather and father... but now its time, that this mystery was solved once and for all. And by us – the brotherhood of the Wise."

Nick swiftly stepped by Wiseman´s side with the same determined look on his face.

"You said it! And not to mention what honours await us when we do."

Archie and Tex also stepped in line of them and now the foursome was watching the house like a general would observe the battlefield before the battle began.

"What are we looking for anyway?"asked Archie, looking from Nick to Wiseman.

Nick breathed impatiently.

"Damn it. We went trough this. Information to Bunglewood´s investigations."

While Tex and Archie looked confused, Wiseman nodded his head.

"Yes. As we told you, when you two run off to read that novel or whatever it was, me and Nick found a clue in the archieves. It seems, that Balthazar Bunglewood was conducting his own investigations concerning Evan Ripgrab and his involvement in many of the deals conducted in Beauvillage. Most prominently the Beauvillage Chemical Works deal. The old man seemed to have stumbled upon something concerning the mysterious deaths of some of the big business executives. He suspected Ripgrab to be somehow involved in them... anyway the report of your grandfather Tex, was suggesting that the information was gathered and prepared to expose Ripgrab and that Bunglewood figured out something no one did. The proof was never discovered and I bet, that Bunglewood hid it somewhere in that house."

Tex and Nick gave an admiring gasp, but Archie eyed the house with some fear.

"B...but what if the ghost will try to stop us...?"

The question was met with laughter from both Nick and Wiseman. Nick smacked Archie across the head.

"Stupid! Aren´t you too old to believe in ghosts?"

Archie rubbed his head, eyeing both of them with a hurt expression.

"But...but what if it is true and the ghost exists?"

Wiseman came to him and placed a hand on the top of his head.

"Have no fear brother Archie. No such thing exists. What you see before you is just an old abandoned house. There is nothing to be afraid of."

Wiseman´s assuring voice helped. Archie nodded unafraid now.

"Let´s go in then."said Tex making his way towards the front door trough the grassy terraine.

Following him, the brotherhood soon found themselfs on the porch.

"Here we go."said Nick opening the door.

"But we have no flashlight."noted Tex as they stepped in.

"Its no trouble. The moon is shining. We´ll be able to see."said Wiseman already looking around the antechamber.

Suddenly the door snapped behind them. Tex and Archie immediatly jumped at the nearest things ahead of them. Tex ended up on Wiseman´s arms and Archie on Nick´s.

"Calm down, brothers. Its just a door."said Wiseman as both of them set the two down on the ground.

"B...but..."stammered Archie, looking from one to the other in the half-darkness.

"HOOOOOOOO"

The two immediatly jumped back into the arms of the braver ones.

"Its just an owl, dumbasses!"growled Nick as Archie was trembling against him.

"Right. Enough of this. Its time we get the investigation done. We will split up and search. Nick will go with Archie and Tex with me."said Wiseman as he set Tex down.

Tex nodded before he and Wiseman set across the hallway leaving the remaining two standing there.

"OK, let´s start. But first, get off me, Archie!"grumbled Nick, but Archie was unwilling to do so.

Sighing in exaspiration he let go of him, leaving him to fall to the ground landing on his butt. As he moaned at the minor pain from the fall, he found that Nick was already walking down the hallway, stopping at the first door, opening it before turning to him.

"You coming or what?"he asked impatiently.

"HOOOOOOOOOO"

Archie immediatly gathered himself from the ground and was at Nick´s side in an instant.

...

"Did you hear that?"asked Phil as he and Lily looked around the large room with beds.

Lily looked from one of the beds at him.

"What?"

Phil looked uneasily at her, then looked around the room.

"I thought I heared something..."

"HOOOOOOO"

Lily gave a small giggle.

"Its probably the owls Phil. Nothing to be afraid of."she said soothingly and it seemed to be working.

Phil relaxed a bit, returning her small smile.

"HOOOOOOOO"

He sighed.

"If only they weren´t so loud. But I think I´m getting a bit used to it."

Lily´s smile widened.

"Good boy. Now let´s just stand at the door and take a picture of the room. I´m afraid there´s nothing to find here. It seems to be a guestroom."

Phil nodded.

"But it is equipped for 10 guests at the least. I mean, Mrs Longline told us that no guest except her has slept over here for 50 years."

He and Lily stood at the door. Taking a picture of it, he noted that Lily was already opening the door and walking out. Hearing a strange sound from the floor beneath he decided not to stay behind and immediatly followed her. As they stood on the hallway, which had a few statues and paintings on the sides of the long walls, they began moving back. Looking at the door before the hallway curve, Lily gasped.

"Ezekiel´s room."she breathed reading the small sighn on the door.

Phil´s eyes also widened in realization.

"The boy who lived with Balthazar...? His...room..."he breathed in awe.

"Let´s go in."said Lily, her door already on the handle.

They walked into the spacy room before closing the door behind them. The room, they quickly realized was every kid´s dream. Large, spacy it had a large bed, two tables, several shelves filled with books and toys, a small old tv set on a porch facing the bed - complete with an old video recorder and a handfull of video-cassetes in its lower shelf, several posters of bands and fashion trends of the age...

"So this was Ezekiel´s room..."breathed Lily as curiosity was getting the better of them both.

"Look an old fashioned skateboard."exclaimed Phil looking at the thing in awe.

Lily giggled.

"Finally something you can relate to."

Phil however was already deep in examination. Blowing the dust from it, he looked and felt it with his fingers.

"Looks like this was hand-made, probably by Balthazar himself. And rosewood... and look... it has flames carved into it... I heared from my Pop that 20 years ago it was a huge thing just to have one... And he built him one...just like Pop Tofu built Chichi things..."

Lily smiled as she approached Phil.

"Looks like Zeke was not so different from you and Chichi."she said with an affectionate smile.

Both of them remembered what Mrs Longline said about him.

"_Zeke was a delightfull child. Much like these three boys here."said old Mathilda gesturing to Phil, Chichi and Rodney Philips all three of which smiled._

"_He very much looked up to Balthazar. Their relationship was really like that of a father and son. A charming boy he was too. He also got along with the youngsters in this town. When he was younger he used to play with them a lot, he even was the first in Beauvillage who had that...what d´you call it... skateboard. He was constantly the envy of all the youngsters. And I remember, that Balthazar used to spoil him too. He really gave his all to the boy._"

Both of them looked around the room spotting many other things – the toys on the shelves for instance... Phil at once breathed an awed sigh before making his way to them.

"Wow...Dragon Lord action figures!"he breathed before he took a picture of them.

"W...what? _Dragon Lord_?!"exclaimed Lily in amazement, moving to Phil before both of them grabbed an action figure each.

Both of them knew, that years back the Dragon Lord series was an all-country hit that sweeped the nation and was the forerunner of the Gzorbial merchendize which made its debut only about 8 years ago, before then no other story in the country was near enough popular. It held a special place in the heart of the kids for 30 years and to this day, there were people who held the fictional story dear to their hearts. Even Phil, Chichi and Lily remembered the story as one that they kinda grew up with.

"Woah Bertidald!"breathed Phil blowing the clear inch of dust from it and examining it with bright, awed curiosity.

"And even the Grand Duki! The greatest of them all! I remember when I was little I wanted one, but they stopped making these long ago..."breathed Lily holding the figure.

"Look Lily... Duki, Bertidald, Laooa, Blink, Rooava, Wheelroamer...they´re _all_ here. He had them all! And even the dragons... Grinder, Mooncrest, Elfwood... all of them and ... woah..."

Both of them breathed as they noticed the big dragon figure at the very end of the shelf.

"S...spirit of fire...? You´re kidding! THE spirit of fire? T...that one was only in the original...and that was 30 years ago in the first series! I mean, Duki took his powers at the end of season one! This was the only action figure of it made!"exclaimed Phil, grabbing it in a nanosecond, his eyes wide and unbelieving.

"And Beauvillage was virtually a tiny village all those years ago... they had to get these from the toyshops in the larger town... and even then the task would´ve been hard in itself. Boy, Balthazar really _did _spoil him... going trough all these lengths just to make him happy...he must´ve really and truly loved him."said Lily cradling the figure of her favourite dragon in the palm of her hand.

"That´s an understatement. Look, the shelves were even hand-made and painted to resemble the Dragon Sanctuary. And here, this big spirit of fire figure was carved out of wood – I bet Balthazar made it for him."

Phil paused and looked over the figures once more.

"Lily...d´you have any idea how _valuable_ this collection is? I mean the collectors around the country would litteraly tear off their limbs to own this... and here it lay untouched for 20 years..."breathed Phil once more looking at the shelf.

For a second both were quiet.

"Lily...you...you don´t think we could...y´know... help ourselfs to them...?"

Lily fixed him with a curious stare.

"You mean take them for ourselfs?"

Phil nodded.

"NO! Philip! How can you think that?! I mean, I think we should leave everything here like it is... what if..."

Phil fixed her with an incredulous stare.

"You said yourself, that they´re no such things as ghosts. What´s the problem then?"

Lily bit her bottom lip.

"I...I just don´t feel alright with it..."

Phil sighed and showed her the Spirit of fire action figure.

"Lil...I´m not trying to take these away just so I can sell them to the highest bidder. I´m seriously tempted by it because I´m a Dragon Lord fan and I understand and appretiate what these figures _are_. It just feels such a shame to let these lying here in the dust. I want to take them to the Hidehole, where you, I and Chichi can fully appretiate them. Or we can each take those we like to our homes... You can´t say, that you´re not tempted to do the same."

Lily looked at him, then at the small dragon action figure cradled in her hands.

"But Balthazar must´ve bought them to make Zeke happy and..."she started

"_Exactly_ my point. He bought them to make him _happy_. Now that the house is abandoned, and he´s not here, I´m sure he wouldn´t mind if they made someone else just as happy to have them. Just as long as someone truly appretiated them..."

Lily smiled.

"All right. You got me. We´ll take them. But promise me two things. First: none of us, Chichi incuded will argue over which we get... and second..."

She showed the tiny green, happy looking dragon in her hands.

"...Tinitus is all mine."

Phil laughed happily, his eyes full of affection.

"You´ve got a deal, Lil."

As the two started to gather the action figures with cheerfull chatter, commenting each and everyone of them, they failed to hear a small happy chuckle from somewhere in the back of the room.

...

"Did you hear that?!"exclaimed Tex looking at the cieling.

"What, brother Tex?"asked Wiseman as he peered over the many pots which held several, still growing small plants.

The two decided to go to the very end of the hallway. Finding a door at the very end, they entered and instantly realized that they were in a sort of a greenhouse. The entire wall was made of glass and several windows were opened. The plants however grew only at places, where the opened windows were. It seemed that the rest have dried up. Wiseman was pacing over the long allies of plants examining them in the shining moonlight just as Tex made the comment.

"Voices, brother. I thought I heared boices laughing and talking from above."

Wiseman fixed the wooden cieling a long stare before laughing.

"You´re imagining things little brother. There´s no one here but us..."

Tex nodded but tensed once more as he heared another chuckle from above. Wiseman however didn´t hear a thing. He sighed to himself just as Tex hurried to his side.

"It seems that we won´t be able to find anything here. Let´s move on to the next room. Those documents have to be here somewhere."

The two stepped out of the room and started to walk the hallway passing many statues on the way.

"Brother...I have a feeling that they´re looking at us..."whimpered Tex as he was pressing himself closer to Wiseman.

"Nonsence. That´s only those stones in the eyes. That´s all."

"HOOOOO"

Tex instantly jumped on Wiseman´s back, shaking like mad.

"Tex, how many times I have to tell you, there are _no ghosts_!"chastized Wiseman as Tex got off his back.

Appriaching another door, which was flanked by another duo of statues – a pair of monks thistime, both of them looked at the drawings carved into the door – a snake with a man over him. Opening the door the two stepped into something, which resembled a laboratory. It was packed full of glass banks and tubes. It also held several shelfs which appeared to be stocked full of ingredients, which must´ve been spoiled or rotten by now.

"This had to be a sort of a lab."commented Wiseman looking around.

"What could´ve been going on here?"asked Tex as he eyed some of the equipment there.

Their eyes fell upon a large old poster which held the basic human anatomy. Another shelf on their left was stocked full with books. Wiseman wasted no time in looking over them.

"What do we have here... _First Aid_, _Medical Basics_, _Wounds and how to treat them_, _Plants as cure – plants as poison_, _How to stay fit_, _Emergency treatment_...hm...all of them medicine books. I wonder what could´ve an old man living somewhere as distant as this could´ve wanted with them."murmured Wiseman as he looked them over.

Tex curiously walked to a big table and started to open its drawers.

"Bandages... needles... s...scalpels?"he exclaimed jumping away from the drawers.

His eyes fell upon the large table, which could´ve been only used for...

"B..brother...what in the world could´ve been hapening here?"he stammered as he pointed to the large operating table.

"D...d´you think there may have been e...experiments on people going on here?"

Wiseman looked over the table, while taking out his magnifying glass.

"I´m not sure Tex. There´s no traces of blood anywhere..."

"Blood?!"

"HOOOOOOO"

Tex instantly gave a scared yelp, launching himself at Wiseman. Wiseman however was unprepared thistime and was knocked off his feet by the sheer weight on his back. Both fell down on the operating table.

...

"Huh? I could´ve sworn I heared something from downstairs."said Chichi as he took another picture.

He was currently checking the only other room on the second floor, which seemed to be the attic. This was an incredible surprise to him, because the room was stocked full of things which he would´ve expected to find in a age-old museum. For a second he was quiet, trying to puzzle out the source of the sound.

"Must be Phil and Lily. Who knows what they´ve found."he reasoned as he returned to the many old objects in the room.

There were certainly a lot. Old clothes in chests, necklaces, garden tools, clothes which looked to be extremly old as he was carefully looking over each trying not to damage them. Some of it, he guessed must be over a hundred years old... maybe even more. Out of the current open chest he pulled out a magnificent white druidess robe.

"Wow this one looks just like the one Mom has. But waaay older."he said to himself looking it over.

It seemed to be hand-made. He could even make out the vine-like green stiches on its sides.

"Beautyfull. Someone must´ve placed a great deal of work making this."

He remembered the times he watched Mom and Buba making clothes for him and his sister when he was younger. He admired this a bit on them, seeing as it was hard work. Often times, Buba remarked that this was the old traditional way to make clothing and now, Chichi could see just what she meant. One wouldn´t be able to find something like this in any shop. As he felt the material of the dress however, he found that it was nothing like he expected hand-made clothes to be.

"Smooth as silk. I wonder what could´ve been used to make this... its not cotton or wool..."

He turned the dress and spread it out, allowing the bottom to fall to his feet.

"Its beautyfull. I wonder if I should bring it back to Mom. She´d appretiate it for sure."he said already picturing his Mom´s happy face as she would put it on for Green Rituals.

Examining it for a while a more intriguing thought came to him.

"The material is so smooth... if it would be a bit shorter at the knees, a girl dressed in this would look gorgeous...hm..."

Suddenly an image of April dressed in a shorter version of it came to his mind, the silky white material clashing with her jet black hair...

"W...what _am_ I thinking?!"he scolded himself fighting the furious blush on his cheeks.

Unbidden to his mind however came the image of April´s radiant smile at the sight of the clothes, her happy squeal at being presented the gift, the gesture of appretiation at being handed such a gift...he grinned dumbly for a second, before...

"Stop it, Chichi! Cool it! J...just...cool it!"exclaimed Chichi red-faced, shaking his head franticly.

Suddenly he felt the same cold like he felt before. A second later a large crate at the wall fell over. Turning to the source of the sound, Chichi´s interest was immediatly caught by a small light coming from the wall, where the crate was a few seconds ago. He noted, as he approached that the temperature had gone back to normal once more, but took no real interest in it. He approached the light to find, that there was a small hole in the wall.

"What is that light? Moonlight? But how?"he pondered as he pressed his eye against the small hole.

Suddenly he pulled away from the wall, punching the air in a happy whoop.

"I get it! _Too much!_"

...

"Did you hear that? Something fell."exclaimed Lily as the duo was examining another one of the rooms – the washroom.

"Yeah. Directly above us. I bet it was Chichi."said Phil eying the cieling.

Lily looked anxtious.

"D...d´you think he´s all right?"she asked worriedly.

Suddenly a loud whoop and a shout of "Too much" was heared from upstairs. Phil and Lily looked at the cieling before both of them gave a small laugh.

"Does that answer your question?"asked Phil happily.

"I bet he found something big."said Lily with a large smile.

"Looks like the genius strikes again. But if he found anything bigger than we did, I´m not sure I´ll be able to handle the shock."said Phil humorously.

Lily nodded.

"Let´s move to the last room before he gets finished. I don´t think we´ll find anything in here anyway."

As the pair moved out of the washroom they failed to notice the image in the mirror as they closed the door – the image of an old, white bearded man smiling broadly.

Walking a small distance from the closed washroom door, they stopped at a large door which had only one word carved into it – Balthazar.

"This is it...his room..."breathed Lily before opening it.

Stepping inside, they flashed their flashlights across it. The room was as spacy as Ezekiel´s but was much more befitting of the man, they heared Balthazar to be. A large table at the window, several shelfs – some full of minerals, many other of books. A large rotating globe, which looked hand-made was near the table. And at the end of the room was a king sized bed, neatly made. Slowly walking and taking pictures, the pair made their was to the shelves.

"Wow...look at these books..._Secrets of Minerals_, _Theory of the World_, _Legends of the ancients_, _Land and how to threat it_, _Art and its value_, _Beauty of everyday life_...wow I´d love to read all of these."breathed Lily as she ran her fingers lovingly over the books.

Phil chuckled to himself.

"Bookworm."

Lily fixed him with a small glare, but he took no notice of it as he made his way to the table, which was full of papers and had a few books placed on it. Taking one of them into his hand he read out the title.

"_How to get trough to rebelling teenagers_...wow he must´ve been troubled by Zeke´s rebelling for a while. He really had to be out of his wits to have bought a book... I feel sorry for him..."he said as Lily approached his side also eying the book curiously.

"I wonder what could´ve happened to make Zeke grow so distant from him. What makes me sad is, that in the end it didn´t work anyway. I mean, he ran away..."

A loud sad sigh suddenly sounded behind them. Quickly turning over their shoulders, half-expecting Chichi to be standing behind them, they realized that there was once more no one there. Quickly dismissing it, they turned back to the table examining the many papers on it. Several newspapers – Megacity Times and Beauvillage Day, some of which had the pictures of a younger Johnatan Haveitall as he was making his inaugiration speech on Town Hall, others the pictures of Evan Ripgrab – his face contorted in rage as the logger deal was dismantled. One paper was a list, which seemed to have listed a number of companies, some of which were well known to both of them, others not. They also noticed several pictures on the sides of the table. Blowing dust from them, they scanned each and everyone of them.

One was a black and white picture of a pretty looking young girl in her late teens with a tall well built young man, smiling both of them a nice scenery behind them. Both Phil and Lily breathed an awed sigh.

"Me and Matilda, 1933...!"breathed Lily.

"W...wow..."was all that Phil could say.

The picture in itself made it seem as though history had come into life. Setting it down, Phil pointed the flashlight at another picture in Lily´s hand. A picture of a old Balthazar with a small 8 or 9 year old boy with dark-red hair, smiling toothily while clinging to Balthazar, who had and arm over his shoulder smiling just as broadly under his already white beard. The two teens didn´t need a commentary to know who that child was.

"They look so happy there."noted Lily sadly, tears threatening to escape her eyes.

Phil nodded just as sadly as he blew the dust from the last picture before flashing the light on it. There were a group of people standing at the foot of the Beauvillage forest. Balthazar, a man who looked a lot like Philips, another looking much like Mr Workalot, an elderly Mrs Longline, a young 13 or 14 year old red haired boy and ...

Phil gasped.

"M...my grandfather..."he breathed, now tears nearly escaping his eyes as he looked at the picture of Philip Conners senior, still well looking, healthy, a rugged grin on his face.

Suddenly he felt Lily´s arm around his shoulders and was pressed to her in a gentle gesture.

"We can take the pictures too, Phil..."she said quietly.

Phil gave a small sniff and nodded.

"Hey guys...woah...what´s going on here?"came a voice from behind them. As they turned they saw that Chichi entered the room.

"Look what we found."said Lily before passing the group picture to Chichi.

Chichi took a small look at it under the moonlight and at once understood. He flashed his best friend a sympathetic smile, which was returned by both him and Lily.

"A...anyway guys. You were at the very ends of the hallway, right?"he asked cutting to the chase.

Both of them nodded in affirmation.

"Did you notice the hallway turning circullar?"

Another affirmative nod.

"I figured out why. There´s a secret room in the very middle of the house."

Phil and Lily gasped. Chichi took note of the necklace around Phil´s neck but decided that this was now more importaint that inquires to the change in its ownership. Though truth be told after finding out that Phil´s grandfather was the one who had it as a keepsake, Chichi had a pretty good idea _why_ the necklace changed owners.

"Anyway, Phil concentrate your thoughts on finding the secret chamber."he suggested quickly.

...

"Did you guys hear that? Something fell way upstairs."said Tex in distress as the four of them regrouped in the antechamber.

"I told you...this place is haunted."exclaimed Archie fearfully.

"Come on you two... how many times must I and brother Nick say this... there are no such things as ghosts."said Wiseman.

Suddenly however a large green glow started to shine from the floor above them, just visible from the staircase.

"W...what´s happening?"breathed Nick loudly as the light intensified.

Almost at once the eyes of the hallway statues started to shing in multiple colours. Each and everyone of them was giving a strong glow, shining brightly, overshadowing the moonlight. As the foursome was wildly looking at the brightly lit hallway, something else caught their attention. From the very end of the hallway, going right trough the closed leftside door stepped out a tall, long bearded ancient looking man. The foursome quickly pressed theirselfs together as they realized who this man is... or rather was. The man didn´t look as though he took notice of them. He turned to the statue which was right at the middle wall of the hallway and eyed it for a minute. Slowly he turned his head towards the shaking quartet. The brotherhood could barely restrain their growing horror as the figure turned towards them completly and allowed them to see him in the bright light of the mineral stones. He appeared to have examined them closely before offering up a kind smile and pointing to the statue at the wall.

"G...G...GHOOOOOOOOSTTT!"screamed out Wiseman and the remaining boys let out screams of their own.

In one instant the four turned towards the front door, forgetting that it was closed and running face-first into it, before falling to the ground in a heap. The old man´s eyes flashed with something resembling concern and he moved closer. The four yelled out again and gathered themselfs from the ground in a blink of an eye. Quickly grabbing the doorhandle, Archie opened the door and ran out, swiftly followed by the remainder of the brotherhood. Positively running for their lives, one after another jumped into the lake and swam in top speed, determined to put as much distance between them and the apparation as possible. The old man scratched his beard and sighed, as the light suddenly stopped glowing.

"_Ah...kids these days._"

...

Upstairs the amulet was glowing deep green as Phil concetrated on his command. However, Phil´s concetration was broke by a loud screaming which originated from the lower floor. As soon as that happened, the glow stopped and the trio was looking fearfully at eachother.

"W...what was that?!"asked Phil as another scream, louder this time followed.

With a strangled scream Phil jumped at that, and wasn´t the only one. Lily screamed too and the pair immediatly jumped at eachother, holding eachother while they trembled in fear as a loud slam followed by another scream was heared.

"I...it went from downstairs."said Lily shakily.

"Its the ghost!"exclaimed Phil shaking even more.

Suddenly there was a loud snap from downstairs. The sound resonated upstairs. Phil and Lily gave another scream of fear and clinged to eachother even more their shaking doubled.

"That was the front door snapping."said Chichi, though more to himself that the shaking pair.

Running out of the room, he swiftly pulled out his binoculars as he made his way towards the hallway window, which was overlooking the lake. Pressing his eyes to the binoculars he swiftly examined what was happening outside. Suddenly he was chaught in a loud fit of laughter.

"Phil! Lily! Come on in here!"he called.

The pair came after him, still holding eachother´s hands, terror still prominent in their eyes.

"There´s your ghosts! Look!"he gestured out the window as he passed the binoculars to the pair of them.

Lily quickly took them and looked at where Chichi was pointing. Suddenly she gave out a loud shout of laughter before passing the binoculars to Phil, who looked himself with equal results.

"Is that who I think it is?"he asked over his laughter.

"Who else d´you think could it be?"replied Chichi laughing too.

"What...are those four doing here?"chortled Lily still looking at the lake, as she grabbed the binoclars from Phil.

"Training for the swimming olympics by the looks of it."said Chichi as the laughter was renewed.

"Boy...they _are_ good..."laughed Lily as she passed the binoculars back to Phil who wasted no time in looking back at them.

"Looks like they´re setting a new world record. They´re halfway across the lake now."

All three of the laughed once more. The laughter endured for a moment more before Phil´s voice turned serious.

"What could´ve scared them like that?"he pondered.

Chichi laughed once more and pointed at the necklace.

"The statues in the hallways react to it remember? And since we´re the only ones who know about it..."

Phil and Lily nodded in understanding and the three shared another fit of laughs as they walked down the staircase and reached the antechamber.

"All right. Back to business. Phil use the necklace again. We have to find the enterance to that room."said Chichi as they turned to the downstair hallway.

Phil nodded and called forth his concetration.

"We need to find the secret room of this house."he thought as he closed his eyes.

The green gemstone lit up once more. The statues also reacted as they expected – the hallway was full of beautyfull mulitcolored lights. Chichi and Lily looked franticly from one side to the other to see, what was reacting the most.

"Look!"called Lily pointing to the end of the long hallway, where a statue of a bearded monk was standing.

Its eyes were shining green and he started to move. Moving closer, Chichi saw that it wasn´t the statue moving, but the floor. Moving in a circular pattern, it slowly opened a hidden door in the wall. Phil stopped his conentration and opened one eye, looking what happened just in time to see his best friend jumping into the air in a happy whoop.

"_Too much_! Woohooo!"he pumped the air with this fists as he jumped up and down like a 5 year old.

Lily also gave a squeal of happiness.

"We did it!"

Opening his other eye Phil´s lips turned slowly upward, finally ending with a radiant smile as he joined in a cheer of his own. Unable to contain his happiness he launched himself at Lily, catching her in a bear-hug and spinning her around and around, something she happily responded to as both of them laughed happily. Neighter of the cheering teens took note of an equally happy voice laughing along with them. The whoop of celebration endured for a moment more, before the three calmed down as they fought for breath. Stopping, his head a bit dizzy Phil finally realized that he still held Lily in his arms, resting his head on her shoulder and Lily was apparently returning the gesture, resting her head on top of his. Lily seemed to realize it too and the two quickly distangled from themselfs, both sets of faces sporting a briliant blush as they looked at eachother, neighter knowing what to say.

"Hey you two. The secret place awaits."called Chichi from the door, completly oblivious to that happened.

The two swiftly nodded and followed. The enterance was a bit dark, but moonlight could be seen at the end of it. Slowly walking down it they stopped and all three gave out gasps of awed shock.

Ahead of them was a large, circular place which looked like a...

"A garden...? Inside the house?"breathed Phil looking around.

"Magnificent..."breathed Lily.

"Completly...too...much..."whispered Chichi before grabbing his photocamera.

The large moonlit garden was lined with various plants and beautyfull statues of animals and people too. And at the very centre of it was a large living tree. They moved from the foot of the enterance, which had a small make-shift roof to notice that they were standing on a grassy circle which led to a slope which was deep and went several feet downward. The trio flashed ther flashlights down to examine it. Its bottom low level was filled with some water.

"So this is where the rainwater and melted snow goes... it could be connected with the lake, so that the water level never rises up..."pondered Chichi as he took a picture.

"Rainwater?"asked Lily.

Instead of answering, Chichi simply pointed upward with his index finger, not moving his sights from the deep slope. Lily and Phil looked upward. The room was circular and had a large circular opening, but no glass to protect it from the weather. Meaning that all the rain went down into it.

"Let´s go to the tree."said Chichi pointing to the small wooden bridge over the the slope.

Walking over it they came onto another grassy circle in the very middle of the room. Looking back, Chichi made a few more pictures as Phil and Lily approached the three. At the very base, were four monk-like statues – one at each side of the tree. And before the biggest of them was a small altar.

"This must´ve been where the Green Magic rituals were being made."said Lily as they looked at the altar made again out of rosewood.

"I wonder what kind of rituals went down here. I bet you anything that it was way deeper than that of my family´s."breathed Chichi who was busy making photos.

Phil laughed a bit to himself as he approached the altar. Standing behind it he faced his two friends and cleared his throat getting their attention. The duo got the joke and bowed mockingly as Phil spread his arms open.

"_OOOH Great green spirit... renew this land... may our land once more support the fruits of life..._"he said, mimicking that of the Soil renewal ritual he heared about.

The three friends laughed a bit, but suddenly...

"W...what?!"breathed Phil as the gemstone on his necklace began to glow again.

But more brightly than ever before. Almost right away the other statues started to shine brightly as well as the three looked from one place to the other.

"What´s going on?"asked Lily as the light was shining more and more brightly up to the point that they couldn´t see anything as the house of Balthazar Bunglewood was emitting a virtual lightshow which could be seen for miles away.

...


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

"Lily? Chichi? Where are you?"called Phil as he was walking around, his eyes desperate to adjust.

"And for that matter…where am I?"he wondered as the surroundings came clearer.

Suddenly he knew exactly where he was though it baffled him how in the world did he get there. He was standing on the Beauvillage playground. Looking around he saw that he was completely alone there. Now however, the feelings of fright were overcome by a strong sence of nostalgia. So many moments spent here. He recalled how he and Chichi came here the day they befriended eachother. Spotting the swings he smiled and approached them. Sitting down on one of them he closed his eyes, began to swing slowly and thought back to his childhood days. When he was just a pipsqueak, like Lily fondly used to called him. They spent many days on these swings reading books and stories. He immersed himself deeply in the memory… a pipsqueak sitting on Lily´s lap, the book in both their hands as they were taking turns reading, the pair of them laughing when something comic happened in the plot…they spent hours nearly each day like that until Grandpa Phil came to collect them and they walked Lily home before going home themselves…

Phil´s smile faltered…he really really missed him…

"Why so sad young one?"came a voice to his right.

Opening his eyes, he swiftly turned and saw, that to his right occupying the second swing sat an old man dressed in pure white robes that matched his long white beard. The man smiled kindly at him as Phil was trying to puzzle out who is he...he seemed oddly familiar.

"My name is Balthazar."said the man extending his right hand.

"I´m Phil."said Phil, taking it.

The man´s eyes twinkled as they shook hands.

"I know, you see I know your grandfather. You´re very similar to him. Very befitting that you share his name."said Balthazar smilingly.

Phil´s eyes widened in surprise.

"You... you knew him?"

Balthazar shook his head.

"I _know_ him, young one and that´s a big difference."

Phil´s eyes turned sad again.

"I´m sorry...but he´s dead... he died 8 years ago."

Balthazar however was still smiling as he shook his head again.

"Eventhough he´s gone from the material world, ones who love us always remain with us. In here..."he gestured to his head.

"And in here..."he said as he placed his hand on Phil´s heart.

For some reason, Phil´s heart was feeling warmer and warmer. Getting what the old man was getting at he let his memories wash over him, thinking to all the good times with his grandpa. Suddenly he indeed felt better and a large smile spread on his face as he looked back at the old man. Balthazar´s smile matched his and the two shared a small laugh.

"Anyway, I have the strangest feeling that I know you from somewhere."said Phil smilingly.

The old man laughed a bit.

"Well, I´m an old time resident of Beauvillage. Waaaay too old I feel sometimes. But you should know. Afterall you and that smart blonde friend you have _did_ find a few things about me, including the treasure I hid near the river. Well done by the way."said Balthazar.

Phil screwed his eyes as he was trying to recollect the memory, but strangely...he _couldn´t_.

"I... I can´t remember somehow."he said.

Balthazar smiled again.

"It´ll come to you. But I have to say Philip, you have found only one of the things I was trying to hide away. I know that you also found the chest in the museum. But its useless without the key. That´s what you have to find now. In in that chest is everything that´ll you need to solve the mystery. But my house is not the place where its hidden. Unfortunately the key was stolen from me. You will have to use the gemstone to find it. But you kids are smart. I´m confident that you can do it."

Balthazar stood up from the swing and started to walk away. Suddenly he turned and looked at Phil over his shoulder.

"And one more thing, Philip. You kids be very carefull about one thing - Green sorcery is no plaything. You have to know what you´re doing and be carefull to always obey the rules. I would really hate to see you or your friends having to pay the price…"

With that the old man walked away and dissapeard in the mist, which wasn´t there before. Phil stood up too and ran after him.

"Wait… what price…?"

But no use, the old man disappeared in the mist which seconds later surrounded him as well.

...

Phil´s eyes snapped open and he sat up. He was in his room. In his bed. As he was looking around he didn´t notice, that the gemstone necklace which was still around his neck stopped glowing.

"_It was a dream._"he realized.

"_But sure a weird one._"

Getting out of bed, he glanced at his Gzorbial alarm clock.

"Huh? 7:10? What gives?"he wondered outloud.

Every school day, precicely at 7 am his mother came up to make sure that he got up in time for school. Whether he was up or not. He glanced uncertainly at the door, but no sound was heared from outside. Shrugging, he got dressed and took his schoolbag, which he prepared yesterday before they set out into Balthazar´s house. He remembered that after the show of lights ended after a few minutes, everything settled down and the house completely calmed down. Even the owls stopped hooting. Deciding to call in quits for the night, the trio exited the house and went immediately home so that they could get a few hours of sleep. Before that however, Chichi took a few books that caught his interest. However they had yet to examine a single one of them, or sort out the Dragon Lord action figures they brought back. Unsurprisingly Chichi was as excited about them as they were. For the moment, Lily had them at home and Chichi had the books. And Phil had was the gemstone necklace. As he was walking downstairs into the kitchen, he realized just how hungry he really was. However, when he stepped in and wanted to say "good morning" to his parents, he found that there was no one in there, which was strange since his parents usually enjoyed their morning coffee around this time. Looking into the living room he saw them standing in the yard trough the window. They were talking to one of the neighbours. In fact as he looked closer, most of the neighbourhood was there and was chatting about something. Opening the door he walked out of the house to them.

"G´morning. What´s...?"

Before he could ask what was going on, he gasped. Their garden´s vegetation had incredibly grown. Trees held fruits, flowers in his mother´s flower patch had sprouted more than ever before and now sported briliant colorfull petals, it was as though the Beauvillage´s harvest time had come in extremly late and paid off its citizens with quite a large interest. Stunned into silence he listened to his mother talk to one of the neighbour ladies.

"I can´t explain what happened. I mean, the harvest time ended weeks ago and yet..."she said to the woman wearing a purple colored hat, both of them completly perplexed.

"It looks as though it has simply grown over night."said Phil´s father as he was picking an apple from their tree and taking a bite from it.

Phil gasped again.

"_C...could it be...?_"he wondered, grabbing the gemstone necklace under his shirt as the conversations around carried on.

"Our garden too..."

"Yeah ours too..."

"Seems that the entire Beauvillage seems to have..."

"But..but how?"

Suddenly there was a loud squeal of pure joy from the Tofu yard. Looking around they all saw, that the elder Tofus along with Beth Hubbub were celebrating something.

"IT WORKED! IT WORKED!"exclaimed Pop as he looked over the yard, pumping the air and jumping up and down like an overjoyed teenager.

Suzie, Cracker and Curly were jumping around too, each as happy as their masters.

Titus was seen at the fence that separated their yards along with Billy and Lola, all three of them wearing looks of complete awe.

"Y...you gotta be kidding."Lola stuttered out.

"I...im...impossible..."whispered Titus while Billy was simply too stunned to muster any kind of comment at all.

Beth on the other hand wasn´t having this problem. She was as overjoyed as Mom, Pop and Buba whom she was standing with in the Tofu vegetable patch.

"Look at this...! Every single vegetable has grown... tomatos, carrots, onions...everything! Oh Vi, the Soil renewal ritual actually worked!"she squealed as she and Mom grabbed eachother and started jumping around like school girls.

"Mmm...these raspberries are incredible."said Miles as he was kneeling at the bushes and helping himself to some.

"The fruits in the greenhouse have grown as well. Even the strawberries."said Buba while smiling radiantly, staning next to the munching Miles.

"WOW! I LOVE STRAWBERRIES. CAN I HAVE SOME?"exclaimed Miles looking at Buba as though Christmas had come early.

Buba giggled and gently ruffled Miles´ hair.

"Of course you can, dear boy."

Suddenly with another squeal, Bee had entered the yard, running at top speed and swiftly embracing Beth and Mom.

"I can´t believe it...I can´t believe it...the ritual worked... my garden is completly overflowing with life energy."she squealed as the three started to jump around once again, Suzie and Curly running around them in joy.

"Hoo boy. I just had a _greedirific_ idea! Can I have some of the fruits? Middletown has a small shortage of them and Frank would give king kong cash for it."said Miles standing up.

"MILES!"exclaimed Bee before she launched herself onto him, nearly knocking him to the ground.

"Wha...what´d I say?"asked Miles in alarm before she practicly pecked him with kisses all over his face.

"It´s...all...thanks...to...you..."she said between the kisses as Miles´ face was starting to gain color.

"Thanks to you the ritual worked. You´re the _best_, Michael Miles."she said as she embraced him tightly before Miles grabbed her just as tightly and started to spin her around as the pair of them laughed along with the rest of the yard.

"She´s right. We owe the success of the ritual to you, Miles."said Pop, while patting Miles on the shoulder when the pair stopped spinning around.

Miles grinned while still holding Bee, who was looking at him with sparkling eyes and both of them blushing a brilliant shade of red.

"Well...thanks...I...I mean...my pleasure..."he stammered as he scratched the back of his head.

The pair let go of eachother and Miles coughed as he desperately tried to fight down the blush.

"Well...anyway, I really should go inside to call Frank but before that..."he said ginning at everyone.

"...why not celebrate with a Green dance."

The others gave a shout of aprooval and immediatly started to dance the ritual dance with Curly, Cracker and Suzie joining in. Phil noticed that there was once member of the Tofu clan who was not present. Looking into the Tofu house´s windows he immediatly spotted Chichi, who was looking over the backyard from Lola´s window and his expression matched that of his.

...

By the time Phil and Chichi arrived at the schoolyard, rumors have already begun to spread. Simply by walking to school they could tell as much. Many people glanced at Chichi and several ladies have whispered to eachother. The awesome twosome wasted not a moment to speak with Lily. Sharing a small conversation they walked her to her bus stop, they made sure not to be overheared and agreed on meeting in the Hidehole after school before Lily got on the bus leaving the two to walk to theirs.

"I still can´t believe that the Sorcery is real. I´m begining to think that the dream I had wasn´t a dream at all..."commented Phil quietly as they crossed the school gate.

Chichi nodded as they stopped.

"If it was, then we have to take what Balthazar said under advisement. In any case, we´d better look over the books I took from the house before we dare use the gemstone again. We might trigger something again and thistime we may not be so lucky. Two things are bothering me though... first, you mentioned that Balthazar said that the key was stolen from him... but by who? And second, what in the hell were the Brainless foursome doing in Balthazar´s house...?"

The two pondered upon this for a second before they heared their names called.

"Uh-oh and here we go..."muttered Chichi as their classmates hurried to them.

In a single instant Oliver, Liam, Brian, Maurice, Abbygail and other classmates formed a circle around them and instantly started to bombard Chichi with questions. As he and Phil tried their best to answer everyone´s questions, carefull not say a word about Balthazar Bunglewood or mentioning their last night´s adventure in his house, Chichi noticed the absence of someone whom a part of him expected, even wanted to be there. Stealing a glance at the stairs, he noticed that April was sitting there with Emily and Chloe, all three of which engaged in what appeared to be a serious conversation. Chichi had a sneaky feeling that whatever they´re discussing was not related to Green Sorcery one bit.

"_What topic could they be discussing so seriously when this has just about everyone in Beauvillage occupied?_"he wondered.

Before he could try to approach them however, Oliver shot yet another question. Chichi sighed as he racked his brains on the answer but not without stealing another glance at the three girls.

"...so I asked Archie, but he said that they´re working on a top secret case. I can´t imagine what could it be though..."said Emily sadly.

She really thought that Archie would help her with this. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"Figures."she muttered under her breath, carefull not to let Emily hear her.

"I heared from my Mom, that Wiseman and his brotherhood are to investigate that ghost."said April recalling her parent´s talks at yesterday´s supper.

Chloe giggled.

"Brotherhood of the Ghosthunters. Kinda cool."

Emily however looked very scared.

"This is no laughing matter! I heared that the former mayor of Beauvillage died a gruesome death. This...this could really be dangerous! And Archie said that they were going somewhere, but he didn´t tell me where...oh no..."she said panicly.

She stood up and looked around the yard franticly.

"I can´t see him or Tex or Nick anywhere and they´re ussually here by now...oh no...what if...what if the ghost got them?"she fretted as Chloe and April stood up.

April quickly placed a hand on Emily´s shoulder.

"There now, Emmy. I´m sure they´re all right."she said soothingly.

"How can you know that?"shot Emily quickly, positively on the verge of tears.

"Because here they come now."said Chloe pointing a finger on the schoolyard enterance.

Indeed the trio has arrived, but they were walking slowly and looked horrible.

"Archie!"called Emily.

Instantly she ran from the stairs across the schoolyard before April and Chloe could even register it. Archie barely had time to react before Emily litterally threw herself on him, catching him in a bear hug and squeezed him to her tightly. All three boys looked confused at what was she doing and Archie´s face sported a small blush which was growing by the second.

"E...Emmy?"he asked the girl uncertainly as she looked at him, but still not releasing him from the hug.

"I was scared that the ghost had gotten you."she explained.

"Hey...how do you know about that?! Were you shooting your mouth off again?!"asked Nick, narrowing his eyes on Archie.

Archie swifly shook his head and Emily turned to him.

"He didn´t, Nick. I heared about your brotherhood investigating the case, that´s all."she explained.

"I guess the adults must´ve been talking about big brother Frederick´s promise."said Tex.

Nick fixed Archie and Emily with a small stare. Then nodded.

"Right...a...a..._achoo!_"he sneezed loudly enough for the entire schoolyard to hear.

"Anyway, you´re really investigating the ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood? Did you three by any chance go into his house?"she inquired.

At the very mention of the house or the ghost, the three boys instantly turned paper white. Emily felt Archie shaking in her hug.

"What? What´s wrong?"she asked, looking from one to the other as she tightened her hold on Archie, who returned it shaking like mad.

"P...please don´t mention that place Emmy."he said to her shakily.

Emily gasped.

"You mean you´ve _been_ there?!"she asked, her voice taking on a bit of anger.

Nick and Tex instantly shook their heads in negative.

"Of...of course not...Em..a..._achoo!_"said Archie before sneezing just as strongly as Nick did.

Nick and Tex nodded their heads too.

"Who in their right mind would go there anyway...a..._achoo!_"said Tex sneezing as well.

Emily narrowed her eyes.

"What were you three doing then? You look as though you haven´t slept a wink."she asked.

Nick and Tex stole a small glance at eachother. Tex shrugged his shoulders a bit and Nick sighed a bit.

"We had training yesterday night."said Nick hoping she would buy the excuse.

She didn´t.

"What kind of training?"

"Survival training. We detective aids have to be prepared for anything...a..._achoo!_"explained Nick.

"Looks like you three were going out of your way to catch a cold."said Emily narrowing her eyes.

"We must be strong. A cold is no...a..._achoo!_"explained Tex finally joining in.

"Anyway let´s get to class. Archie... don´t forget. Rule 23! Got it?!"said Nick as he and Tex turned to the school and moved along the schoolyard.

"Yes, brother."said Archie quietly, still in Emily´s hug.

Following their yesterday´s investigation, Wiseman issued a new rule in the brotherhood. One that would definitely become usefull later on as well: Rule 23 – _That_ NEVER happened.

Emily looked questioningly at the boy in her arms.

"Archie? What´s rule 23?"she questioned.

Archie however shook his head.

"Sorry Emmy. I can´t tell you that."

Emily narrowed her eyes again.

"Don´t you trust me, Archie?!"

Archie looked at her uncomfortably.

"Its not about that, Emmy. It´s just that this is a thing of the Brotherhood..."

Emily saw red in one second.

"So you make me worry like that, doing who knows what and then refuse to say anything because of some stupid rule of the Brotherhood?!"

Archie shook his head.

"Rule 23 is a wise one. I´m a member of the Brotherhood of the Wise and as such I must obey its rules."he said firmly.

At once, Emily released him from the hug and turned her back to him.

"FINE! Be that way. If your precious Brotherhood is more importaint to you than me..."she exclaimed and stormed back across the schoolyard.

Archie was left there standing completly perplexed.

"What did I sa...a..._aaachooo!_"

...

Emily was still hurt when the classes ended. She kept stealing hurt glances at Archie over the course of the classes, but resolved not to speak with him for today at the very least. Instead she resolved to solve the mystery of who wrote that incredible novel. She and Chloe were waiting for April at the lockers.

"Look Emmy, don´t worry about it, kay?"said Chloe attempting to cheer her up as best she could.

"Easier said than done when you´re in love."said Emily sadly.

Just then Nick, Tex and Archie came out of the classroom apparently deep in hushed discussion. Archie stole a small glance at Emily and was promptly awarded by a hurt glare. The same hurt reflected in his eyes, but he carried on walking with his _brothers_ as they exited the school.

"_Its times like these, that I really wonder what in the hell does she see in him..._"mused Chloe as Emily fixed her stare on the floor.

Suddenly April came out of the class with Chichi and Phil. Phil smiled, said something to the two of them and walked off. Something that made both of them go scarlet.

"Oh, he´ll pay for that."muttered Chichi glaring his best friend´s retreating back.

April giggled.

"Anyway, thank you for bringing me that hair-clip. Where ever did you get it?"she asked.

Chichi chuckled and winked at her, givig a thumbs-up.

"Trade secret."

Both of them shared a small laugh.

"Ok. So you guys check over what you can and if you will need any kind of help, let me know, kay?"he said as they stopped at Chloe and Emily.

April nodded.

"Thank you Chichi."she said appretiatively.

"Anytime April, anytime. Now if you girls will excuse me, I have a best friend to smack."he said cheekily before racing from the hall and out of the school.

The three girls shared a giggle.

"What´s that, April?"asked Chloe looking at the new wooden hair-clip, which had a small mineral stone in its middle.

"Chichi said that he found it somewhere and thought that I might like it."she explained.

Emily sighed.

"You have no idea how lucky you are, April."she said, her thoughts on Archie.

"Yeah. Chichi´s a nice guy."nodded Chloe.

April gave a long sigh and out of habit grabbed her ponytail with both of her hands.

"That´s why I love him so much."she said.

Emily gave a dreamy sigh and Chloe giggled a bit.

"All right girls. Let´s get outside. Its nearly time."said April and the three girls exited the school.

"So Chichi will help us on this?"asked Emily as they walked trough the schoolyard.

April shook her head.

"He said he will only when we won´t be able to solve it on our own. In the meantime I got someone else to help."she said as the two girls fixed her with a confused stare.

"Who?"asked Chloe.

In that very moment a bright blue van came to a loud stop in front of the school perimeter. Out of it jumped a black-haired young muscular man, who almost everyone in Beauvillage knew by now.

"WASSUUUUUPP!"he called as Emily´s and Chloe´s jaws dropped.

...


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

The blue van was speeding towards Megacity.

"This is so cool!"exclaimed Chloe, who was seated besides Miles who was putting the paddle to the metal, speeding like mad.

"I´m not so sure, Chloe."said Emily from behind her, fear evident in her voice.

"What´s the problem?"asked Chloe looking behind her.

"The speed! That´s the problem!"exclaimed Emily, her face as white as a paper.

"C´mon girl... we have to get to Middletown pronto."said Miles before turning the steering wheel sharply as the van made a wild turn on the road causing Emily to scream out loud.

April however giggled and cheered.

"This is so cool, Miles. D´you think we can go even faster?"she asked as Emily fixed her with a shocked stare.

"Suuuure we can, look..."said Miles confirming Emily´s worst fear.

Instantly she let out a scream as the van picked up on speed even more. Emily looked ready to faint, while Chloe and April cheered. Soon enough the van reached the said town and Miles brought the van to a moment-defying stop.

"Here we go – Middletown."said Miles, killing the motor.

April and Chloe got out and looked around the busy street.

"Wow. I´ve never been here."commented Chloe, her eyes in happy curiousity.

"Me neighter. If I remember correctly, the Tofus used to live here before coming to Beauvillage."said April, also looking around.

Chloe fixed her with a surprised stare. April nodded and a smile spread across Chloe´s face.

"So this is where your little Chichi honey-bun used to run about?"she asked teasingly.

Imagining a 5 or 6 year old Chichi, April turned beet-red and dreamingly swayed on spot as Emily exited the van slowly, her face green rather than white.

"Emmy are you all right?"asked Chloe with some concern.

"I think I´m about to..."

Before she could finish, her stomache lurched and she quickly ran forward to the bushes near the parking ground. It was very apparent, what she was doing even without the noises that were present.

"Woah...sensitive stomache, huh...?"said Miles as he came to the two girls, who flinched as Emily went at it again.

"I think you should go slowly on the way back."said April looking at him.

"Nevertheless, we got here incredibly fast. From Beauvillage to Middletown in 25 minutes? That´s got to be a record."commented Chloe, checking her watch for good measure.

"You´ll see girls... one day, I´ll make it in 20."said Miles making a gesture, getting the two girls to laugh.

"Yeah, but do me a favour...leave me out of it when you do..."said Emily, who was returning from the bushes.

"Better?"asked April, a bit of concern in her voice.

Emily nodded, though she still was a bit white.

"Much. But I think I left yesterday´s supper there. Along with everything else I´ve eaten until now."

"All right girls. After me."said Miles, gesturing towards the large building ahead of them.

The four of them were making their way to the building across the parking ground.

"What´s that building?"asked April curiously.

Miles grinned in a very feral way.

"An executive building. It holds many offices of many different firms, freelance operatives and other highly funny people. I visit quite regurally."

Apparently he was right. When they entered the older chubby woman - probably in her fifties, at the information office clapped her hands and looked at the cieling.

"Oh my GOD. Not HIM again."she exclaimed.

Miles grinned and waved at her.

"G´day Madam, miss, mrs, lady..."he said happily while Chloe and April had to stiffle their giggles.

"What d´you want here now? I warn you, you bring any merchendise in here again and I´ll..."

Miles quickly cut her off.

"No merchendise thistime. I couldn´t get my hands on Mr Wollabot´s prized _greed-grabbers_ but if you see Mr Aberly, do tell him that I´m working on it and I´ll call him when I get them."

The woman flared.

"Do I look like a secretary?!"

Miles fixed her with an incredulous look as he looked her up and down.

"You look like anything but one...anyway I think that its not so much trouble remembering one single sentance."

The woman growled.

"I´m not paid to take memos for scoundrels who have a liking to roam about here."

Right then a well dressed businessman about Miles´ age or even younger came down from the stairs and came trough the glass door, which was locked from the outside and could be opened only from the inside or the info office. Pretending not to notice Miles and the girls he pushed past them towards the old woman.

"I will be expecting an importaint visit this afternoon. Here´s my number. When the party arrives, direct them towards my office and call me."he said in an authoritative voice, passing her a small note before turning away and walking towards the exit.

The woman all but bowed.

"Yes Mr Reggald, sir. I will sir. You can count on me, sir."she said oily as the businessman slamed the door after him.

Miles whistled.

"Woah... a lovely lady your age taking orders from a thumbsucker like Vince Reggald...pretty damn humiliating."said Miles shaking his head sadly.

"What´s it to you?! Unlike you he is an accomplished businessman."she flared, all politeness forgotten.

Miles snorted.

"A 20 year old pampered brat, who has inherited a tiny division of his father´s firm. Not to mention that unlike me, he´s still with one hand in his father´s wallet. That´s definitely _some_ accomplishment."

The woman snorted.

"You´re just jealous. Trash like you should stay on the street where you belong."

Emily was watching the ordeal with an open mouth, whereas Chloe and April looked ready to argue with her. Miles however looked unconcerned.

"Whatevs Mrs, Lady, Ms and Queen. Open up the door, we have an appointment with Mr Querelly, all right?"

The woman fixed him with a murderous stare to which he was completly ignorant as he approached the door which he opened.

"Come on girls, our appointment awaits."he said happily and when the girls passed he waved at the woman before closing the door and moved up the staircase.

"Sheesh what an old battle-axe."commented Chloe with distaste.

"A dull battle-axe to be precise."added Miles humorously.

"That was rather nasty from her."said Emily.

"Its all good, girls. People with a double digit IQ and a triple digit income tend to act that way. I´m used to it. Its useless to concern yourself with it. Anyway the office is on the third floor."said Miles as they climbed the staircase.

Once on third floor, Miles directed them towards the very end of the hallway. There was a sighn on the door which read : INCREDDY PUBLISHING – STANLEY QUERELLY. Knocking three times and ringing on the doorbell three more times, Miles stepped back from the door as it opened. In the doorway stood an elder man in a suit. He had graying short hair and a small beard. His face however sported a happy smile.

"Miles m´boy! I´m so glad to see you. Come on in, come..."he said gesturing them into the office.

The foursome settled themselfs in the office, which was stocked with many racks, all of which were full of books. Mr Querelly sat down behind his work table and looked at them.

"Well my young friend, to what do I owe the pleasure?"he asked politely, curiosity in his eyes.

"We have a small matter we need solving. You see recently my friend here found a handwritten novel in Beauvillage. We need to find out who wrote this and if you have a copy of the book... I know that you´re probably the best publisher in the country and not to mention a novel-enthusiast, so if anyone would know this, it´d be you."said Miles happily.

Querelly smiled at him.

"I´m glad that you think so much of me. D´you have the novel here m´boy?"

Chloe brought out the handwritten novel and passed it to him. He looked at the title with interest.

"The Great Mystery? Hm...the title is unfamiliar with me as is the handwriting... I´ll just read it and let you know. There might be clues to the author in it. The style, the composition and other things. Leave me some time with it and I´ll let you know."

Chloe looked from him to Miles, she was reluctant to part with the novel for very long. Knowing this Miles smiled at her.

"No worries Chloe. You see Q here has the gift of swift reading. He´ll read trough this in two hours flat. During which time we can go around Middletown for some food, drink or shopping – my treat."said Miles giving the girls a thumbs up as he was standing up.

"Don´t underestimate me dear boy."said Querelly with a smile as the girls stood up too and looked at him curiously.

"_One_ hour."

...

In the Hidehole´s new computer room, the trio was going over the various books that Chichi took from the house. Phil was seated behind the computer writing the info into it.

"This one also looks interesting."exclaimed Lily as she looked over the old book.

"Minerals and gems in history... Chichi you wouldn´t mind me borrowing it?"

Chichi shook his head as he looked over another book.

"Be my guest Lily. Afterall this stuff now belongs to the three of us. But for safe-keeping I think we should store them in the Hidehole for most of the time."he said and Lily nodded.

"I finished the scan of the various minerals. Though I´m not really sure, what good it´ll do."said Phil turning to Chichi from the computer.

"Well I am. Compare the list of the minerals stolen from the museum with the notes."

Chichi´s command met with curious looks.

"I´m sure that the museum theft is somehow tied to this. I want to confirm my suspitions."

The curious looks lingered.

"Suspitions?"asked Phil, while looking at Lily who returned him a confused look.

Chichi only nodded before looking back at the book he was holding. Lily´s confused stare remained glued on Phil, nevertheless he shrugged and turned back to the computer. Chichi set the book down after a while before taking a large leather brown one. Listing trough it, he smiled.

"This is it. Balthazar´s memo book. A diary of sorts."he said at once getting the attention of both Phil and Lily.

While Phil only remained sitting there looking awed, Lily let out a gasp and moved towards Chichi on the large couch.

"Diary? Woah. _My journeys_, wow... Look Chichi the first entery dates back into the 1950s – more than 60 years back...wow."breathed Lily as they examined the neat handwriting and Chichi began to read.

"_5__th__ April 1953_

_The journey to the western seaside of the country always brings me way I was just a teenager and my first traditional round of the country was completed. I remember how overjoyed Oscar was when I set out at 18 years old. He did want to come along with me, but the wound was giving him a lot of grief dispite that he wasn´t that old – 50 years old. The wound from the beast killed him by the time I got back. I still regret missing the funeral of the man, who raised me. Even now I still can´t believe the kindness he showed me by giving me a home, when he found me – a 4 year old orphaned child on the streets of Morgereville. Not to mention all the knowledge be passed down to me. Now as I overlook the seas, I start thinking about my life all the more. Such a shame that I have no one to pass the knowledge to. I have to figure something out. I am the last of the Sucellus cult. If I don´t pass the knowledge, the cult and all the knowledge of Green Magic dies with me... At times like this I really wish I had the courage back when I was young... before I set out on the journey. Had I told Matilda then, she may have accompanied me on it or at the very least waited for me. But I was too hot-headed, too excited and guillable. In other words, all in all... too young. I leaped immediatly at the prospect of exploring the greater world, uncovering secrets and failed to look at things I had in Beauvillage. And so a huge shock awaited me as I returned to Beauvillage 4 years later, believing to be broadened by experiences and becoming fully mature – my mentor and father of sorts dead, my oldest friend and the love of my life happily married to another. In that moment I fully grasped, that dispite holding vast knowledge I in fact understood nothing. _

"_While reaching for the stars, one must always know to remember his place and come back to the ground."_

_Though Oscar taught me that lession years back, I truly understood it only then._"

Lily had tears in her eyes while the boys looked awed at what Chichi read.

"Woah. That was the text carved into the bird statue in the owl room. It wasn´t all about flying afterall..."whispered Chichi.

Lily sniffed.

"How sad... Balthazar truly was in love with Mrs Longline. If he only said something... she confessed to me, that she had a crush on him when since she was 13. She with her husband couldn´t have children she so desired... and Balthazar wanted... I remember Mrs Longline telling me how Balthazar wanted children...oh, how can one single youthfull mistake ruin something that could´ve been so beautyfull..."she said tearfully.

The boys looked at eachother uneasily. Phil stood from the computer, sat besides Lily and grabbed her hand.

"Life is cruel sometimes..."he said, unsure what to say. All he knew, he hated seeing Lily cry.

Chichi however took no notice of this. He was deep in thought.

"So Balthazar _was_ a member of the Sucellus cult. And he wanted to pass the knowledge down, which explains the books and various works... wait a minute... _Ezekiel_..."he said in a revelation.

Phil and Lily fixed him a look and noticed immediatly, that Chichi was putting two and two together. He swiftly listed trough the book.

"Here it is... 3rd March 1982!"he said.

As the two looked at him, their breaths held Chichi began to read the entery.

"_I was looking around Megacity. I met up with the director of Chemical Industry – a man named Orbin Mixup. Lucky that I hold my vast wealth. Otherwise I don´t believe the upstart young one would even speak with me. It seems fishy... 28 years old, he did enjoy some success before moving up to the position of the director after the unexpected death of the former director Logan Freeside. His death, as I found when asking the police was ruled out an accident in Megacity´s chemical factory during his late night check-up. He was apparently alone there, but how can someone slip on a metal clearing and falling into a vat of chemicals ON HIS OWN. Even the police didn´t see it so... they told me that the famous detective Sylvester Wiseman had looked into it, but came up empty handed. No clues, no evidence equalls no crime. So Freeside´s death was an accident. Wiseman went as far as investigate Mixup, but also came up empty handed and was forced to drop the case. However during our talk, Mixup had turned miracleously tense when I asked him about Ripgrab. Afterward he refused to discuss anything else. Though he firmly stated that he doesn´t know him, I can tell that it was an outright lie. My lack of sucess was however brightened by something. While on the streets of Megacity I met a young 8 year old boy named Ezekiel. Apparently an orphan who ran away from home... he strikes me as the small boy I once was._"

"Whoa...so that´s when Balthazar found Ezekiel. _Too much_..."muttered Phil.

"What interests me more, is the Chemical Industry director. Its still one of the largest firms of the country. They were the ones, who tired to do that ripoff with the new Chemical works in here a year back, remember?"said Chichi recounting the tale.

"I still remember that guy Mixup. Boy was he mad when we exploited his plans and the mayor shot the deal down."nodded Phil also remembering.

"Mad? He was furious. I remember how he almost had the three of you arrested if the mayor didn´t intervene."said Lily.

"Looks like Ripgrab´s school all right. I wonder, just what did those two have in common."said Phil.

"Much more than one would expect in any case. If I remember what Philips told us, years later the Chemical Works deal was struck... we have to look over the data on the net, but I´m sure that we won´t gleam much from the official versions."said Chichi before turning back to the diary.

Over the next few minutes he read on Balthazar´s extensive research on Ripgrab´s deals and allies, over the years since the entery. It looked like, that many of the big firms which weren´t easily persuaded into cooperation suffered unexpected "accidents".

"Woah now this is big. Are you thinking what I am?"asked Phil looking at his two friends.

"That Ripgrab was responsible for these accidents somehow? Yeah. Every large accident brought levels of business to Beauvillage and all into firms owned or overseen by Ripgrab himself. The man was a virtual crook."said Lily glaring at the book.

"The trouble is, that we have no proof only our and Balthazar´s suspitions. Even two generations of detective Wisemen failed to aquire it. Which is why they were forced to drop it."said Chichi, folding his arms across his chest.

Lily looked at the book once more, before gasping.

"Look at this. 4th August 1992."exclaimed Lily before taking the book from Chichi and began to read.

"_Ripgrab has finally gone too far. The car factory deal with Infinite Motors was THE LAST STRAW. As old as I am its very uncharacteristic for me to be so furious. What however chilled me was Zeke´s rage at this. Compared to it, mine was nothing. Eversince we returned from France, where he found that that wretched book I have done all I could to try and calm him down. Instantly he insisted on using the ritual in it. However he relented in seeing my rage. Momentarily cooling down he agreed on helping me with the Corrosion spell. Luther and Phil are busy informing the citizens, so everyone will know about it until morning. Even so, they won´t be able to make it in time. Me and Zeke did the spell in the ceremonial room at midnight, under the full moon. I have always been reluctant to unleash Green Magic to its fullest capabilities, but now I have no other choice. The forest MUST BE SAVED!_"

The trio was awed.

"So the Bulldozers corroding _was_ Green Magic. Woah..."breathed Phil.

"We´ve seen today, what Green Magic can really do. Let´s look at the next entery."said Chichi growing more excited by the second.

Lily as well, as she flipped the page over.

"_12__th__ August 1992. This is definitely the happiest day of my life. First and foremost of all – WE WON! Ripgrab failed to gain the votes. People were completly on Johnatan´s side – even some which sincirely surprised me as I expected them to stick with Ripgrab. It seems, that Ripgrab double crossed them one too many times and they were heartily sick of it. I knew, that Johnatan could do it. The people reacted to him in ways I haven´t seen for decades. I´m sure, that he´ll be the best and most remembered mayor Beauvillage has ever had. More than Matilda´s husband OR father-in-law. We had a huge party at town hall, where nearly everyone was. Well, except the ex-mayor, his daughter and his son in law – I really do pity the misguided boy sometimes. The party was amazing. So many people and for once, Balthazar Bunglewood wasn´t seen as an old wierdo. It began to dawn to me, just how many lives I have affected – people truly want to see Beauvillage become something more than just a small town overshadowed by Megacity, and not a business cut copy of it. I´ve had many spirited conversations with Luther, Phil, Terrance and of course Johnatan who was thanking me endlessly. And the young ones were dancing to the beautyfull music played there. We had a small laugh when we saw Rodney Philips dancing with tiny Angela. Even Zeke seemed to enjoy the party and once more looked like the happy child he was, albeit a bit quiet. However the main surprise came before the end of the party. Matilda asked me to escort her home. She invited me in and we talked like old folks do. However there was one single revelation that made me freeze. As it turns out, Matilda always loved me eversince she was 13. She finaly told me everything about her marriage. I had no idea, that she married Albert only because of her family. No idea that she didn´t love him at all. But as she said, taking care of him had become a habit overtime...not to mention that stupid me didn´t say a word and busied myself with my work and research... Heh... talk about irony. Zeke always said when he was a child that he wants to be as old as I am because old people are smart. Oh he would be eating his words if he knew... But as me and Matilda talked more and more... neighter of us knew whether to laugh or cry... but it seems that we finally admited to eachother something, that we´ve been denying all our lives... that we love eachother...I can´t believe it...well... better late than never, I guess. Anyway, I accepted her offer to stay over night... she said, that I don´t have to worry about anything sexual happening as I´m way too old to be raped – I always loved her mischievous sence of humor._"

Phil and Chichi looked at eachother, their faces reflecting the same incredulous distaste. Lily however looked to be in full romantic mode, jumping up and down.

"Oh my... so they _did_ end up together. Love actually wins."she exclaimed happily.

The two boys were however sitting frozen on the spot, haunted looks on both of their faces.

"Its sweet and all...but..."said Phil.

"Do NOT want to imagine it..."finished Chichi.

"Oh you two! Can´t you see how beautyfull this is?!"remarked Lily glaring the boys.

Phil and Chichi flinched a bit under the glare. Chichi quickly grabbed the book and read the next entery.

"_31__st__ August 1992_

_I´ve never felt so...broken. Zeke - my friend, my partner, my...SON! I´ve suspected something was wrong since our holiday in France. I failed! I failed as a mentor, a guardian, a teacher and worst of all – as a parent. Me, Luther, Terrance, Phil and even Johnatan went all about Beauvillage searching high and low... we all came up empty handed. As we met at the town hall around 10 pm, Rodney came running to us, telling that Zeke had left Beauvillage. He tried to persuade him to stay, but Zeke told him that Beauvillage is no longer his home. Matilda told the others that she´ll take care of me and that they are free to go home. I was barely listening as she took me to her home. She spent until midnight trying to console me, telling me that this was not my fault and that it was going to be all right. But I know one thing. It won´t. Somehow I feel that it is only the begining of the troubles._"

"So this is when Ezekiel ran away."whispered Chichi.

"And poor Balthazar was blaming himself. Mrs Longline was right. That wasn´t his fault."said Lily fiercely.

"Remember what the mayor told us? Balthazar said that it was "A bad case of teenage rebelion". I heared from my uncle, that during the 80´s and 90´s there were many teenagers who ran away from their homes. Perhaps Zeke was just one of those cases."said Phil.

Chichi shook his head.

"Somehow I doubt that. Anyway let´s look at another one. _5th September 1992. _

_Many people discussed me over the days. Everyone keeps saying that I´m walking around like a soulless doll. Luther, Phil, Johnatan and Matilda are all trying in their own way to cheer me up. They try not to show it but I can see that they´re extremely worried. I can hardly blame them... I just couldn´t... Everything everywhere reminds me of Zeke. I keep thinking that it was a mistake teaching him Green Sorcery. More and more I keep thinking that Rodney Philips would´ve been a better choice... but who am I kidding – I´m to blame. If I didn´t have that stupid idea of visiting France and the places where the Sucellus Cult was born hundreds of years ago... if me and Zeke didn´t uncover that old ceremonial catacomb – that´s where we found it... ancient scripts and books... and Zeke immediatly became fascinated by the knowledge in it. He was translating it from Latin, reading it intensly even during our journey back. This was the knowledge Oscar tried with all his might to keep me away from when I was young – he knew this and Secreta Naturae holds only the stories of the forbidden knowledge. The knowledge that cost the cult members its lives years back... I wanted Zeke to stop it, but he insisted on translating the wretched book. However I´m not sure how much he translated or learnt... he hid the book very well from me... I´m sure that THIS was why he left... perhaps he went back to France to uncover more... For the last two days I am constantly thinking what to do...? Go after him? Try to stop him? Or believe, that he´ll come around and recodnize it for what it truly is...? His views of people and civilization had changed over the last year or two and he´s truly disgusted with how people treat nature... will this induce him to use the knowledge...?_"

All three of them were shocked.

"There´s forbidden knowledge in Green Sorcery? Doesn´t it just help... things grow?"whispered Phil.

Lily shrugged as puzzled as him, but Chichi was sporting a very serious look indeed.

"If Green Magic can make vegetation grow rapidly and machines corrode like that, imagine what else could it do... I wonder... could it maybe affect the weather..."

"Like rain?"asked Lily quietly.

"How about earthquakes...who knows...we´d have to read that book Secreta Naturae to be sure, but I didn´t find that book anywhere in the house. I could have overlooked it, but I don´t think that Balthazar would just leave that book lying around somewhere..."pondered Chichi.

"And Ezekiel learnt stuff like that? I certainly haven´t heared of anything... well... supernatural happening over the years in the country."said Phil.

"We have to leave it aside for now. We know too little about the Sucellus cult of Green Magic for that matter. Let´s focus on Balthazar. We may yet find some answers."said Chichi as he turned the book´s page again.

"_6__th__ September 1992. Matilda attempted to cheer me up again. I wanted to return to my house – since Zeke´s dissapearance I´ve been living with Mat, but she insisted that we´d go for a walk in the park. Funnily enough – we truly look like an old married couple. Though I was not really in the mood to enjoy it. Perhaps its another mistake I said to myself as I thought about it. I really should enjoy it, since it happened. Plus Mat would appretiate it too... so I agreed on her idea of a park stroll. Obviously she thought that the sunny Sunday along with the trees and water would definitely cheer me up. The plan however backfired. As we strolled around it, we saw that many of the young families in Beauvillage had the same idea and were clearly enjoying the nice weather. Both of us felt a pang as we realized just how much of our lives we missed... I myself was completly immersed in fantasies – what my life... our lives could´ve been if eighter me or Mat would´ve had the courage to admit our feelings... me and Mat married... as a young married couple rather than old... having children and playing with them in this very park... and right now...doing the same with our grandchildren... As I think about it more, I can´t help thinking... all the knowledge, all the experiences, all my achievements, all my skills, all the journeys I had in my life seem utterly meaningless right now, next to the image in my fantasy... I could tell that Mat was experiencing prety much the same. We met up there with many others – Luther and Rodney, Terrance and his son, Johnatan and little Angie and Phil along with his three children – Marion, Benjy and Matthew. They invited us to join them at their camp cook-out. We accepted and in a short while we were indeed enjoying ourselfs with the others. We were there for most of the afternoon until something happened that made me freeze. The statue of monk Mathias – one of the many I´ve made for the park, its mineral stones began to glow. That meant only one thing – someone was using Green Magic. But who? Since Zeke left I´m the only practitioneer of it in Beauvillage, much less the country...?_

"So my Dad, Granpa, Aunt and Uncle were... woah."said Phil unable to find words or what was read.

"The statue glowed exactly like it did when we were in the park."breathed Lily.

"Only that this time it was you using the gemstone. If Balthazar didn´t do it, it must mean that eighter Zeke returned, or it was someone else. And that someone must´ve had a gemstone too..."said Chichi before he bagan to read the net entery.

"_7__th__ September 1992. This is horrible. How could I be so blind?! After yesterday´s little surprise I decided to check my house for anything that might be missing. Instantly I noticed, that the front door´s lock was broken. Someone must´ve been there. But who? Zeke had the keys, so he wouldn´t need to break the lock... I found, that all the books were just as they were. Obviously Zeke thought he knew everything he needed from them so he didn´t bother to take a single one of them and whoever was here was searching for something else and didn´t pay any attention to them. However I found that several of the mineral stones were missing and the small "Chest of Secrets" that I´ve made to store the Secreta Naturae book was not on its place. Someone obviously attempted to open it. Luckily I have the key around my neck, for the chest holds much more than just the book. Plus it opens more than just the chest. The real question for the moment is, who is using Green Magic? I´ve seen a few slightly corroded machines at Terrance´s market just this morning. Someone made an attempt at a corrosion spell. But it can´t have been Zeke. It was really poorly done and with Zeke´s knowledge of Green magic, it couldn´t have possibly be him. I wonder, did he pass some of the knowledge to someone else in Beauvillage? I must keep my eyes out..._"

As Chichi finished reading the entery, the main computer gave a small tone signalizing that its analysis was complete. Phil instantly sat behind the computer and scanned the data shown on the screen.

"Chichi! None of these fossils or minerals are worth anything."he called.

Both Chichi and Lily moved towards his seat and glanced over his shoulders.

"I knew it! Run a small analysis with any of the rituals in the Guide to Green Sorcery."commanded Chichi with excitement.

Phil did just that and the computer ran a swift analysis signaling its results with a loud beep.

"Huh? None of these items matches with any of the rituals."said Phil before turning to his best friend with a questioning look.

"What does that mean?"asked Lily, also fixing her stare on Chichi.

"It means, that Balthazar wasn´t the person who stole the items from the museum."

This revelation brought some levels of shock to both Lily and Phil. Chichi pretended not to notice.

"I thought it fishy about Balthazar needing to steal anything from the museum, especially if he worked there. I thought that the items may have been used for a ritual... but since Balthazar roamed the country several times in search of any interesting object, I didn´t think he´d leave anything like that to the museum. Whether he needed it or not. I´ve since then thought about the museum robbery and thought that maybe Balthazar wasn´t the culprit."

Chichi´s expanation seemed to have stirred up something in Phil and he instantly started to run his fingers on the keyboard at top speed. Chichi and Lily traded bewidered looks as various pictures appeared on the screen, but Phil didn´t take any notice to them and kept typing something. Suddenly with a loud beep, the computer screen flashed with a table, where the various stolen objects were listed.

"The stuff the thief took from the museum were utterly worthless. Not one of them could´ve been used in any of the rituals."he said.

"Assuming for the moment that the forbidden knowledge didn´t list any of them... hm...the theif didn´t really know what can be used and what can´t..."said Chichi in a thoughtfull manner.

"So the person who robbed the museum didn´t have much knowledge of Green Magic..."said Lily also thoughtfull.

"Hm...the sloppy spell... it must´ve been that person. Maybe Balthazar figured out who it is..."said Chichi before moving to the diary on the couch.

Taking it, he turned the page and began to read.

"_8__th__ September 1992. Today´s day in work was suddenly interupted by a long awaited phone call. My contact in Megacity – a young police detective Ebeneser Sharkerly contacted me. The two of us were working on investigating Ripgrab´s various deals for a while now. He said, that they apprehanded a criminal, who in his bid for freedom made a deal with Megacity´s police authorities and revealed the crude business practices of one of Megacity´s top firms. They investigated of course and Sharkerly found that the management had close ties with Ripgrab. What´s more, Ripgrab is supposed to be promoted to its directorate any day now. The firm however hid behind its lawyers and the police can´t go any further. I already took a few days off from work for the first time in two years. Mat, Phil and Rodney had seen me off to the bus from Beauvillage. She quietly advised me not to do anything rash, but noted that she´s pleased to see me come back to my good old self. She´s right in a way. Its time that ol´Balthazar Bunglewood is back in action. And I´ll make sure to uncover what Ripgrab has done..._

_Still 8__th__ September – midnight. I´ve met with Sharkerly and we went over the suspitions he had. Though he was worried that I´d do something... radical and illegal as he put it, I want to get to the bottom of this. I´m planning to get into Congamer Corporation´s headquaters and go over their papers. There I believe could be the very proof that we need..._"

"Woah, Balthazar was sure an action-kind of guy, huh?"noted Phil while whistleing.

Lily giggled.

"Kinda like you and Miles, Chichi."she said affectionately.

Chichi blushed slightly, but smiled at her before continuing.

"_10__th__ September 1992. Back home now. I´ve snuck into Con corp´s offices yesterday midnight. I had to use a few Green Spells here and there, but I´m confident that I wasn´t seen. I´ve made sure to use the Corrosion spell on the cameras and even a Camuflague spell to ensure secrecy. I found the papers – the proof I was searching for, but there were parts missing. Ripgrab eighter destroyed them or took them with him to Beauvillage. I believe it was the latter, since I´ve found that the people in the directorate trust eachother about as much as they trust their heavily abused employees. I think that the proof papers were meant as Ripgrab´s insurance against the President of the Corporation. Both ways. Heh...no wonder they get along so well. Anyway I´ve returned to my house before coming to Mat´s and I took the Chest of Secrets with me. I locked the proof papers into it for now and I´ll take great care in hiding the chest though I don´t know where yet. I also have to hide my necklace somewhere, since the green gemstone is the only one which could react with the mineral stones, since its made of the opposite energy minerals. My next order of business is to locate the remaining documents. But...right now, I have to get to Mat´s house. We spoke over the phone before I left Megacity and she said that she has a surprise dinner waiting for me home. Which as I know her means, that we won´t be dining alone tonight. She undoubtably invited Luther, Phil, Terrance and perhaps even Johnatan._"

"So Balthazar did find something. And he was working with old Shark. Too much!"exclaimed Chichi, unable to believe it.

"Yeah and it looks like he stumbled upon something really big."nodded Phil.

"Congramer Corporation... why does that sound so familiar?"wondered Lily.

"It should. Congramer Corp is one of the biggest firms in the country. Its sucess and assets are rivaled only by Longbow Industries. And Ripgrab was to be promoted into its directorate..."mused Chichi as Phil took the book from him and began to read the next entery.

"_11__th__ September 1992. I can scarcely believe it... Zeke you foolish child what have you done?! As I got to work, I was confronted by the first of many surprises of the day. Someone had broken into the Museum and stole various minerals, fossil butterflies and even the dinosaur egg. I instantly realized, that it must´ve been the person playing around with Green Magic. The police instantly took me for questioning. I had nothing to tell them really. Only that I was away from town during the last two days when the robbery occured. I was apparently the only suspect, since the minerals got stolen and they thought that the "mad old wizard Bunglewood" has any need of them. Almost at once, Matilda and Johnatan barged in and demanded me to be set free. Matilda argued a bit with the policemen but I quickly cooled her down and left the situation to Johnatan who as mayor of Beauvillage has vouched for me and they were forced to drop it. However when he politely asked why they thought of me as a suspect, the investigator shown us a piece of paper that the thief was stupid enough to drop. On it were only two words written in a handwritting I was not familiar with. However those two words nearly gave me a heart attack. MUTARE VITA! The feared ancient Sucelli art, which uses a ritual sacrifice! It has the power to transform anything organic, fuse it with something be it organic or inorganic... it virtually has the power to warp living beings... I grew up listening to the story in fear as Oscar told me many times... the one single time when the art of Mutare Vita was used in this country. In Beauvillage. And it resulted with the deaths of many of its citizens and in the end almost the entire Sucellus Cult except Oscar and Doriana. Doriana herself fell victim to her injuries a few years after the incident, dispite Oscar´s best attempts to use every healing art he knew... _

_Matilda and Johnatan had to take me away for I was stunned with fear. My head was spinning as I fought to make some sence – this new practitioneer of Green Magic... Now I´m certain that Zeke passed some of the knowledge to someone! The forbidden knowledge to be exact... but... I´m certain that the knowledge would take years to learn... only if... oh no! I have to find whoever Zeke turned the knowledge to, before he or she uses Mutare Vita to unleash something that might destroy us all!_"

"Woah. You were right Chichi! Balthazar didn´t rob the museum afterall."exclaimed Phil.

"Incredible deduction, detective Chichi."nodded Lily, but thistime Chichi didn´t acknowledge it.

"A forbidden art like that... in the hands of a sloppy practitioneer... ZEKE!"he exclaimed and his two friends jumped.

"Zeke must´ve given the knowledge to the person knowing, that they´d use it... and misuse it getting it wrong... I think I know who the culprit is. But let´s read the diary to make sure."he said taking the book again before noticing something that made him shiver.

Lily and Phil looked where he was looking at and tensed too. Lily´s eyes sported some small tears.

"There... there´s only one entery left. This´ll be his last..."she whispered as Chichi began to read with urgency.

"_12__th__ September 1992. I´ve made every necessary step. First of all, I finally located the papers I needed and hid them in the chest, before I took Oscar´s yellow gem stone necklace. I have to settle this before I can pass the information to Sharkerly. I also hid the chest behind the rack in the museum before I quit my job. The less anyone sees me there the better. My green gemstone necklace was given to Phil, who said will hide it in his messy attic – he joked that no one´ll be able to find it in that mess. The Sorcerer´s Guide to Green Sorcery book I´ve given to Matilda for safe keeping. I realized, what the thief wanted when he broke into my house. He didn´t want the chest, but the key – he didn´t have a clue to what the chest is, he only thought that the key was there. But that means that he wants the key for its real purpose – to open the door to the Sucelli Catacombs. Perhaps to perform the Mutare Vita ritual. No doubt Zeke must´ve told him... In any case I have confirmed who the thief is... the very man who is responsible for so many wasted lives... Evan Ripgrab... The evidence I´ve gathered is enough to send him behind bars. But first I have to stop him from using Mutare Vita._"

As Chichi finished reading the final piece of writing of the diary, the three friends were left sitting in the couch, an unpleasant silence lingering between them.

...

"You´re the GREATEST, Mr. Miles."exlaimed Chloe as the three girls and their companion were going to the executive building with their hands full of bags and sweets in their mouths.

"C´mon Chloe. Think nothing of it. And it´s _Miles, _just call me Miles."said Miles in an offhanded gesture.

Over the last hour, the foursome made an "attack on the mall" as Miles put it.

"And they say, that you´re greedy Miles."said Emily admiringly.

"I am, girls. The _greediest_ in the world."exclaimed Miles with a series of gestures that nearly made him drop his bags and caused the girls to giggle.

"I can´t believe you chose to spend that much on us though."noted April as Miles opened the back of his van and they started to put their things into the van.

Miles did indeed spend quite a lot on the girls´ clothing, books and...

"I can´t wait till I show Oliver this Gzorbial Empire game."exclaimed Chloe as she lovingly held the new game.

"Oh, they´ll be green with envy all right."nodded Emily with a smile.

"Never forget girls, we only live once and _greed_ is to make you happy."said Miles nodding sagely.

Unable to contain herself Chloe squealed in happiness and launched on Miles hugging him tightly.

"You´re really the best."she squealed.

All of them laughed happily before...

"MILES!"the deafening cry was heared trough the parking lot.

They spun around to see, that Mr Querelly was running from the office to them. A look of incredible happiness was on his face.

"Miles! You golden boy! What in the world have you brought to me?!"he boomed, waving the notebook in his hand.

"This has got to be THE best novel, I´ve seen in a very VERY long time!"exclaimed Querelly as he passed it to Chloe´s expectant hands.

"So... did you find out, who wrote it?"asked April eying him.

His happy expression faltered a bit as he looked at them.

"Miles, girls... you HAVE to find whoever wrote this. Apparently we have a brand new, yet unrecodnized talent in our country."he said in a voice of utmost seriousness.

...


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

As sun was slowly setting over Beauvillage, Miles´ van came to a stop infront of the Tofu house. Miles insisted on driving Chloe and Emily home before riding to the house. April was staying over tonight anyway. All the way during the ride back from Middletown they were heavily discussing their predicament. Miles felt a bit dissapointed, that Querelly failed to identify the writer. But they have learnt some infos from it. Unfortunately, neighter of them knew what to do with them. April now felt that the time has come to ask Chichi for help and was resovled to do just that as she and Miles jumped out of the van. As they slowly made their way to the front door, the door flew open and out raced Lola along with Titus Hubbub. Closing the door behind them the two of them, breathing hard fell back on the door as though determined to keep whatever was behind it locked in the house.

"Am I glad to be out of there..."said Lola between the gasps for breath.

"Lola, I think its time we put our foot down..."noted Titus also gasping.

"Its useless...you know them... one they get something in their heads..."

As Titus sighed and nodded the two noticed Miles and April approached.

"What´s going on?"asked April looking from one to the other.

"A desperate retreat."answered Titus and Lola only nodded.

"Believe me, you do NOT want to go in there."

Miles was about to ask what was going on when a loud collective scream came from the house. Horrified, Miles and April hurried forward and dispite Lola and Titus´ fervent head shaking and other gestures indicating a very urgent "don´t do it!", Miles swung open the door as another scream was heared.

Inside the kitchen, the table was pushed to the side and a large flower petal circle was on the ground. Inside the circle were Mom, Pop, Bee and Beth all dressed in ceremonial robes, sitting on the ground and letting out one scream after another.

"Woah. What´re you guys doing?"asked Miles with bright curiosity.

"Harmonizing this household. And us at the same time."answered Mom brightly.

April giggled a bit as she approached closer to the circle.

"With screaming?"she asked smilingly.

"Exactly, little sunflower. You see, Bee here brought this Harmonizing ritual from her seminar. Its said to be very efficient."explained Pop, while pointing to Bee who nodded.

"After that ghost dissapeared I noticed that there was some unnatural energy going on here and there. Luckily there´s a simple ritual for this. We scream to chase away the bad energy and also rid ourselfs of the bad energy in us all at the same time..."

April giggled again, while Miles was scratching his head grinned broadly.

"Oooh... so _that´s_ it! Cool idea, Bee. I could use some harmonizing myself."he said and a loud slap was heared from the door.

Lola slapped the palm of her hand onto her forehead in exaspiration as she and Titus were standing at the sides of the doorway, both very reluctant to go back inside.

"Oh, he goes along with _every_ stupid stunt they pull."she mumbled to herself, while Titus was standing there with his jaw dropped.

Miles hurried into the circle and sat down between Pop and Mom.

"What do I do, Bee? What do I do?"he asked eagerly as Bee approached him.

She positioned herself behind him and placed both her hands on his broad shoulders as he sat cross-legged.

"Close your eyes...concetrate on the bad energy inside of you...aaaand...SCREAM!"

As soon as she said the last command, Miles let out an all-mighty scream. Lola and Titus quickly covered their ears and even April grimaced at the loud noise dispite laughing a bit.

Miles laughed as he stopped.

"Hey this is fun."he commented before letting out another loud scream. He then eyed Lola, Titus and April happily.

"Aren´t you gonna join in? This is so cool."

"He´s right. Come and join us. There´s enough room in the circle for everyone."nodded Pop kindly making some room in the process.

Lola and Titus backed away from the doorway a bit.

"No thanks Pop. I...I´m going outside with Lily...you know... girl-talk and all that."said Lola quickly.

Titus nodded.

"And...I... I´m coming along too...girl-talk and all..."he said just as quickly.

Cathing sight of Lola´s raised eyebrow, he whispered to her.

"I couldn´t think of an excuse that fast."

Lola nodded and the two swiftly left, closing the front door behind them.

"Well, April...are you going to join us?"asked Mom brightly.

April had a half-mind to do so, since it did look like fun... but quickly reminded herself that she had a more serious thing to take care of. Shaking her head she flashed them a smile before replying.

"No. I want to have a word with Chichi. Is he in his room?"

The adults all flashed eachother knowing looks and even slight smirks.

"He´s in the yard, April."

As April went out of the room she heared Bee directing the ritual again.

"All right everybody, join hands...close your eyes...and as one...SCREAM!"

...

On the other side of Beauvillage, on the balcony overlooking the garden of a large house, Phil and Lily were sitting on chairs besides eachother finishing telling what they found out to a very eager listener.

"Thank you, my children. Thank you."said Mrs Longline in a low voice, holding the diary of Balthazar Bunglewood.

Her eyes were sad and fixed on the book, while her fingers ran over the book in a loving manner. The sight made Lily´s eyes water as they sat on the balcony. Suddenly she felt a gentle hand grasp hers. Glancing at her left side, her eyes locked with Phil´s. He flashed her a gentle, understanding glance and nodded. Returning the nod, she gripped his hand tightly as a few tears escaped both her and Mrs Longline while a moment of silence endured.

"I´ve known... somehow I always knew he was...oh, Balthazar..."

Phil felt Lily´s hand tighten her hold even more as he piped up.

"Mrs Longline, we almost have this solved. Chichi has his theories, most of them I believe is correct, but we still have to find that key to the chest. You have our word, that we will see this trough to the very end."he said firmly and earnestly.

Trough her tears, Matilda Longline smiled.

"_Just like his grandfather._"she thought proudly as she stood up from her chair.

Still holding hands Phil and Lily stood up as well as Mrs Longline approached them. They were however chaught off guard as she embraced them tightly.

"You have no idea how much this means to me... now that you know everything, I´m confident that its only a matter of time until you figure everything out. Philip, Lilian... I can´t say how proud I am of the delightfull young people you two grew into."

Both Phil and Lily used their free hands to embrace Mrs Longline in a three-way hug. They stayed like that for a while before letting go. Both females wiped their tears as Mrs Longline escorted the teens outside. As Mrs Longline closed the door, she slowly walked back to the balcony, wiping some more tears thinking of her Balthazar. As she slowly approached the table on the balcony she saw something that made her gasp. Next to the diary set on the table, shining neatly in the waning sunlight were a few teardrops, that she was absolutely sure that weren´t there before and next to them a pure white rose – her most favourite flower since early childhood. She allowed a bright tearfull smile to grace her old lips and let out a small giggle.

"Oh, you old flatterer... don´t worry, these kids are smart. They´ll surely figure everything out."

She sat on the chair opposing the flower and the diary as though there was someone sitting in the chair in front of her. Turning her face toward the garden she could just see the two young ones moving on the street, though they weren´t walking in the direction of their homes.

"And finally my love, you´ll find peace."

As she closed her eyes and sat there peacefully for a while, she could feel a strange warmth as though someone had enveloped her in a loving embrace.

Walking on the street, Lily had a hard time surpressing her emotions, tears flowing freely from her eyes.

"That was so sad."she remarked.

Phil eyed her with some concern, his hand still holding hers.

"I know Lily. But I think Chichi was right."

_-Flashback-_

_Finishing the last line of the diary, Chichi stood up. A long silence reigned in the Hidehole with only the low sounds of machines and computers intruding. Phil and Lily eyed Chichi as he was pacing from one side to the other deep in thought. In fact, both of them could nearly hear his brain working as heatedly as the machines. _

"_Zeke...Ripgrab...Mutare Vita...Balthazar´s dissapearance... I think I know what happened..."said Chichi still pacing. _

_Phil and Lily were absolutely still, eager to hear what he came up with._

"_Mutare Vita needs a ritual sacrifice and who better for Ripgrab to sacrifice, than the person he hated more than any other. Not to mention the person, who had the dirt on him – enough to get him behind bars and take away the wealth and influence he had. Plus the only person who could stop him using Green Magic. And if we take into consideration Ripgrab´s vengefull character, it would be the perfect revenge to get Balthazar out of the way with the very thing that Balthazar used so many times to foil his plans. These Sucelli Catacombs... the key – you said Phil, that the Balthazar in your dreams mentioned something about the key being stolen from him... if the key was so importaint and not locked in the "Chest of Secrets" Balthazar must´ve kept it with himself at all times... perhaps Ripgrab wanted to perform Mutare Vita in the catacombs... in any case, Balthazar was 80 years old at the time and Ripgrab was much younger – he would´ve had no trouble overpowering Balthazar physicaly... So to sum it up, this is my theory for what happened since the last entery: Balthazar searched for Ripgrab to stop him from using Mutare Vita. He must´ve figured out, that Ripgrab was the one behind the robbery... At some point I think Ripgrab found Balthazar and sucessfully knocked him out. Taking the key he took him down into the catacombs and used him as a sacrifice for the Mutare Vita. He also used the stolen things from the museum in it and locked it in that chest, believing to use them later on as well. I´m not sure what Ripgrab thought the ritual would do, but whatever it was, it didn´t work. Following the ritual and Balthazar´s murder nothing happened. Perhaps he did figure out, just how much Balthazar knew and searched for the chest, but wasn´t able to find it and deduced that it poses no threat to him. And as Balthazar´s dissapearance was announced, the Green Magic rebounded killing him."_

_Lily snorted though her eyes sported a few small tears. _

"_Serves him right!"she said strongly. _

_Phil nodded just as firmly._

"_We have to get that key, then. Do you think that Ripgrab kept it?"_

_Chichi nodded._

"_I´m sure of it. Perhaps its still hidden in his house."_

_Lily brushed off the tears and replied. _

"_As far as I know, Ripgrab´s house along with his business were passed down to her daughter and her husband. So its Mrs Morter´s house... I wonder if she knew anything about this... she dispized Balthazar and still does."_

_Chichi shook his head._

"_I don´t believe she does. If she did, she would look for the chest or take action when the village was fretting over the ghost."_

_Phil looked thoughtfull for a second. _

"_What about her husband?"_

_Lily nodded. _

"_He inherited the business, they´re really wealthy as a result. He may have been involved in something..."_

_Chichi thought about it for a second. Thinking about Balthazar´s comments about him in the diary and about Mayor´s discribtions._

"_I don´t think so. If he was, he was probably bullied by Ripgrab to do it. In any case, we need to search for the key and their house is the first place to start. We can use the gemstone again. Phil, you two go to his house and try the necklace to confirm if the key is or isn´t there."_

_Phil and Lily looked at eachother. _

"_Sure, but what if she sees us?She´s not the most pleasant person in the world and she´d get suspitious. Their house is on the end of Beauvillage not very far from where Mrs Longline lives. People our age only rarely go there..."commented Lily as Chichi moved to the computer and started to turn it off. _

_Glancing at the pair over his shoulder he rolled his eyes._

"_Think of some excuse then. Tell her you´re on a date or something."_

_Turning back to the computer he completly missed the looks of shock or the furious red blush on Phil and Lily´s faces as they glanced at Chichi´s back and then on one another. _

"_And one more thing."said Chichi breaking the moment and catching their attention._

"_The diary has told us all it could. We should pass it to Mrs Longline and also tell her what we found out."_

_Lily stood up from the couch in one swift motion._

"_Chichi you´re not serious! She´s 96 years old and experienced heartbreak too many times. We can´t possibly..."_

_Chichi turned to her and a very serious look was on his face. _

"_For 20 years no one knew what happened to Balthazar. But if there´s one single person in Beauvillage who deserves to know the truth first, its Mrs Matilda Longline."_

_-End of Flashback-_

A moment of silence endured during which the two teens walked down the road leading to Beauvillage´s most luxurious adress. Finally Lily spoke.

"I agree with the two of you. And Mrs Longline was really gratefull..."she said softly.

Phil smiled gently at her and nodded.

"That matter aside now, how much of Chichi´s theory you think is true?"he asked in genuine interest.

Lily smiled affectionately.

"All of it. His theories are never far from the mark. He´s just like Detective Razor sometimes."

Phil looked confusedly at her.

"Who?"

Lily however giggled and shook her head.

"Never mind, Phil."

Phil´s look of confusion lingered as they approached the very end of the street. Both of them gasped a bit. At the very end of the street was a giant house. Much like the Tofu house, this one was also standing out among any building in Beauvillage, though in the opposite manner. It was state-of-the-art. Just the first glance at it spoke in volumes.

"This house must´ve cost a fortune."breathed Phil, speaking the very phrase almost everyone does upon seeing it.

"Amazing what you can buy for bloody money, huh?"said Lily softly, glaring the house.

Phil only nodded eyeing both the house and the big garden – all of it behind a huge gate, which had mechanisms installed into it, cameras on top of it too. As they moved closer, they positioned themselfs at the side, where the clearing to the forest was. Phil took out the gemstone necklace and focused on trying to locate the key. Nothing happened however.

"Try again."encouraged Lily.

But once more, Phil´s attempt came with no result. The gemstone wasn´t working.

"Do you think its...well...busted?"he asked eyeing the necklace.

Lily shook her head.

"Perhaps you´re just not doing something right."she suggested.

Phil however shook his head.

"I´m fixing every thought in my mind on finding the key."

He thought about it for a moment. Then he took the necklace off.

"You try, Lily."he said passing her the necklace.

Lily nodded and placed it around her neck. Closing her eyes she concentrated deeply, performing the compass spell they all learnt. With Phil´s gasp, she knew it was working. The gemstone started to shine brightly and was growing warm. The strange kind of warmth envoloped her, but Phil quickly positioned himself in front of her, shielding the glow with his body. He looked at Lily, who had her eyes firmly closed mumbling to herself quietly.

"2nd floor...the attic...the left closet...it´s..."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

The loud scream feared by most of Beauvillage High rang troughout the surroundings. Melissa Morter was standing in the garden obviously mad, her husband behind her. Phil and Lily swiftly turned. Luckily the gemstone glow dissapeared. The terror of Beauvillage High however glared them.

"Oh, its you Robins. What are you doing here?! Not here for history study-ups I expect. And who´s your little friend?"she asked folding her arms.

"I´m Phil Conners."said Phil introducing himself.

Mr Morter gasped and moved closer eagerly.

"Woah. I heared about you. You and the other kid... what´s his name?"he asked, but quickly shivered under his wife´s glare.

"Chichi Tofu. The two brats that get into whatever goes on in this stupid town."answered Mrs Morter, her glare making Mr Morter back off several steps.

Lily scrowled and was about to retort, but Phil quickly grabbed her hand making her stop.

"You two haven´t answered my question yet. What are you doing in this part of Beauvillage?"asked Mrs Morter in a inquisitive voice, still with her arms folded.

"Well you see...we´re...uh..."stammered Phil trying swiftly to come up with an excuse.

"On a date."said Lily swiftly.

Phil´s cheeks were instantly deep red, he also became painfully aware that he still held Lily´s hand. Mrs Morter´s eyebrow quirked.

"I was not aware that you like younger boys. Isn´t he a bit too young to date?"she snorted, obviously finding the thing amusing.

Her husband however didn´t.

"That´s cute. Young love. And with an age difference like that... you two must really like eachother, huh?"he commented kindly, earning himself another murderous glare from his wife.

In a swift motion Lily pulled Phil into a tight hug. Phil was turning redder by the second.

"Very much, Mr Morter. I really love this little guy."said Lily in a happy convincing voice.

Mr Morter smiled radiantly and grinned at them.

"Adorable. But this place is no love street, Robins. Kindly remove yourself from here."said Mrs Morter in a firm voice.

"Aww Mel. Don´t be so mean to the young lovers. We were young once too."pleaded Mr Morter, but got another round of glaring.

"Shut up you weakling. And you two do as I say."she said in a menacing voice.

Lily released Phil, who´s face resembled a shining red gemstone and took him by his hand, pulling him after her.

"Of course Mrs Morter. Sorry to have bothered you."she said as the teen "couple" made their way down the street.

"At least we know, that the key is in the house. Let´s just hope Chichi will be able to think of some way to get it."said Lily as soon as they were out of earshot.

Phil however didn´t say anything. He was still fighting the crimson blush on his face.

...

In the Tofu yard, Chichi was sitting at his favourite thinking place – the pond. Those who know Chichi very well know, that its the place he goes to whenever he needs to think, or calm himself. Mostly because its the place where he can see his most favourite animals – frogs. Now though even the hopping croaking frogs were enough to get his attention. He was deeply in thought, thinking about everything they found out from the diary. The real question was, when they get the chest open who to turn the information to? Certainly not Wiseman. Perhaps the mayor or some competent policeman... he wondered about calling James Strongdome... Another question was, how to get the key? If Phil and Lily prove his theory, how in the world are they going to get into the most guarded house in Beauvillage. He heared from Titus, that Mr Morter was one of his best custumers and litteraly packed his house in alarm technology... perhaps they´ll have to use some more Green Magic again?

Locked in his thoughts he took completly no note of the screaming still heared from the house or someone creeping up to him from behind slowly. April grinned to herself as she neared him. In the years of knowing Chichi she knew many funfacts about him. For instance the fact, that he is extremly ticklish. She tried several times to catch his attention as she was chatting with Buba, but he appeared not to have heared her. Well it was time to get his attention big time. Stopping at his back, she quickly tickled his sides from behind. The effect was instantanious. Chichi gave a yelp and jumped. However he was sitting too close to the pond as it was and his leap landed him straight in the pond. April couldn´t help herself. She was instantly overcome by a fit of giggles, but she was not the only one. Buba laughed too and even Suzie, Cracker and Curly joined in too with laughs of her own as Chichi´s head surfaced in the pond. Dripping wet, with a waterlily on his head, on which a frog was sitting he spat out a small ammount of water before glaring April.

"April! How many times I have to tell you: DON´T DO THAT!"

April however still giggled, her eyes sporting small tears of laughter.

"You have no idea how adorable you are when you´re jumpy like that."she informed him, eyes full of affection.

Chichi´s cheeks took on a slightly red colour as he grumbled to himself.

"Me and Miles just returned from his informant. We have some infos but we´re not sure what to do with them. You said you´ll help us."she said looking at her beloved blonde-boy, who was still neck-deep in the pond.

Chichi´s eyebrow flew up.

"You make me jump into the pond and now you want my help?"he inquired in an annoyed voice.

April immediatly clapped her hands together in a pleading manner.

"But you promised. We can´t really do this on our own and we really need some help. Pleeeeease."she said, giving him her best puppy-eyes.

Chichi´s cheeks turned even more red and he felt his resolve fall apart. He could NOT say no to her.

"All right. But first let me dry up a bit."he said raising himself from the pond.

"YAY!"whooped April as Chichi started to walk back to the house.

As he walked to the house, he noticed Buba and the three animals still in fits of laughter.

"Very funny, you four. Veeeery funny."he grumbled as he entered the house.

April approached Buba, both still giggling.

"Only you can drive him up the wall like that."commented Buba affectionately.

As April giggled again, yet another loud collective scream was heared from the house.

"I wonder what was he thinking about thistime. He didn´t even notice the screams."wondered Buba, shaking her head.

"With Chichi you can never know. Perhaps its something about the project he´s still doing with Lily and Phil. Anyway, I should go after him now."said April as another scream went out of the house.

"Of course, sweetheart. I still have some tomatos to pick. I´m so happy that the ritual worked. We´ll have a delightfull dinner tonight."said Buba as she made her way to the vegetable patch, acompanied by Suzie and Curly.

Entering the house, April quickly made her way upstairs to Chichi´s room. She was in very good spirits now. Judging from the wet prints on the floor Chichi must´ve already returned from the bathroom. Not bothering to knock she opened Chichi´s door, however it may not have been the best idea. Opening the door, she found Chichi with his back to her just as he threw aside the towel and reached for his boxers. Instantly she blushed a deep shade of red and swooned, gasping just as Chichi pulled the fabric on. Hearing the gasp, Chichi turned and gave a panicked yelp.

"A...APRIL! Do you MIND?!"he bellowed.

April shook her head and swiftly dissapeared, closing the door after her. Once on the hall, she quickly fell against the wall for support, her mind spinning on what she saw. The red on her face increased and she felt that she was going to faint. She gave a lovesick sigh as she grabbed her single ponytail with both of her hands. Letting her fantasy work, she had no idea how long she stood there until Chichi´s voice brought her back from her daydream.

"April. You can come in now."said a blushing Chichi awkwardly, peeking from the open door.

A moment later she was in his room once again. Chichi sat behind his desk, which had several books, she was sure he didn´t have before.

"What´re those?"she asked curiously as she sat on his bed.

Chichi glanced at the books before waving his hand.

"Just some books I found with Phil and Lily. Nothing importaint. Anyway, you said you have some information regarding that novel. How far have you guys and Miles gotten?"he asked.

April quickly recounted the Middletown meeting.

"...and Mr Querelly said that he´d publish the book. That´s another reason why we have to find out who wrote it."

Chichi was already pacing up and down, heavily in thought.

"Hm... it seems to be very possible, that the author is in Beauvillage. Chloe says she found the novel at the place where the ritual was... perhaps the person could be from that area. But there were many people there at the time, and anyone could´ve dropped it... Hm...what to grasp on... I think I got it – handwriting. April, how many people in our school know about the novel?"

April mused on it for a bit.

"Well...there was a fairly large number of us at the reading meetings. Both boys and girls from many classes. Even the younger ones. Why?"

"Because if the author is someone from our school he may not have even noticed the novel dissapearing. Perhaps he´s still writing the other half, or simply forgot about it. Hm... we could perhaps identify whoever it is using the handwriting."said Chichi stopping his pace.

"Handwriting? How are we going to do that? Our school has so many students."asked April confusedly.

"Like this. First we´ll make a list of those who were on the novel reading. Then we´ll try getting those students who weren´t there to write something down and ask about anything they know. We can also ask some of those, who were at the reading to help us in their respective classes. Then we bring the entire thing together and see what we get. Since you said, that Mr Weatherby was there too, I´m sure he´ll help us too."

April gave a happy squeal and jumped from the bed, swiftly grabbing Chichi in a bear-hug.

"You´re the best. How in the world do you come up with such plans?"she squealed completly besides herself in joy.

"I _think_, April. That´s all that it ever needs."he said in a matter-of-fact tone, his cheeks reddening once more as he brought his arms around her and returned the hug.

They stayed like that for a while until a sound sounded from Chichi´s table.

"_Hocus... pocus... Ca-ca-ca- Caramba..._"

Chichi quickly let go of April and reached for his phone.

"Yeah. Phil? What did you find?... Sure on my way."he ended the call and looked at April, who looked at him expectadly.

"I have to get to the yard for a bit. Just something to discuss with Phil. I´ll be right back. In the meantime, can you get me the list of those who were on the reads?"he said, his eyes betraying extreme animation, as though whatever Phil had to say was of the utmost importaince.

"Sure. Just don´t be long."said April in a small voice as Chichi opened the window and climbed the infamous tree – his surefire way to escape his room.

He stopped however and grinned at her over his shoulder, flashing his infamous grin.

"Back before you know it."he said happily and climbed down from the tree.

April sighed to herself as she sat behind Chichi´s desk. Reaching for a pen and a paper, she thought to the readings an the people who were present. Thinking about it, she turned her head slightly and spotted the books she asked about. Taking the first one in her hands, she immediatly saw, that it was really old and by the looks of it – handwritten as well.

"_The Magic of Regeneration_?"she read in a curious voice.

She placed it into her schoolbag, she brought to his room beforehand.

"I´m sure Chichi won´t mind me borrowing it for a while."she said to herself as she began to write down the names.

...

The following morning Chichi and April were walking to school together. Both were chatting happily as they heared a familiar voice call them. Chloe and Emily ran up to them.

"So... Chichi´ll help us then?"asked Chloe hopefully.

April grinned in a happy way.

"Of course. I told you we can count on him, right Chichi honey-bun?"

Chichi nodded.

"Right. And _when_ are you going to _stop_ calling me that?"

April blew him a playfull raspberry.

"Never."

Sighing to himself, cheeks slightly red he turned to the other two girls.

"Ok. Can you get all those who were at the reading out on the schoolyard? This´ll be done more easily if there are more of us on the job."

In a few moments later, the large group of eager teens and even Mr Weatherby were out on the yard.

"Ok. Everyone take the papers me and April printed out. Into the collumns you write the person´s name and tell him to write a simple sentance from the book, Chloe..."said Chichi turning to the said girl who cleared her throat.

"The sentance will be Razor´s favourite phrase – The World´s not big enough to hold too many secrets."

As the crowd voiced their agreement Phil mumbled to himself.

"_Razor_? Where have I heared that before?"

Chichi took note, but cleared his throat to get everyone´s attention.

"Ok. Let´s start handing out the papers. After class, we´ll meet here to gather them. We´ll compare them and identify the handwriting."

The crowd gave a happy whoop and started to line up to Chichi, April, Phil, Chloe and Emily.

"You know, that we still need to figure out how to get the key."said Phil to Chichi in a low voice, as they were handing out the papers.

"I know. Unfortunately I have no idea how to do it."said Chichi with some dissapointment.

"What´s going on here?"asked Archie as he and Tex approached.

"Nothing you should know of."replied Emily, glaring Archie who looked both hurt and confused.

"Emmy what d´you mean? You haven´t spoken to me since yesterday... did I do something?"he asked.

"You´re one of the Brotherhood of the _Wise_ – I´m sure you´ll figure it out."said Emily glaring him again.

Archie looked even more confused. He looked at Tex for help but, he was as baffled as him. Suddenly they heared their names called.

"Hurry up you two. Big brother´s here and he has something to tell us."called Nick from the schoolyard archway.

Flashing another hurt look at Emily, Archie and Tex hurried off. Her glare slowly fading, Emily gave out a pained sigh. April gently grabbed her shoulder.

"Its ok, Emmy..."she said soothingly.

Noticing the curious looks on the boys´ faces, Chloe quickly replied in a low voice.

"Archie did something that got her mad and now she´s expecting him to figure it out and apologize."

Phil snorted.

"I´m sorry, but it looks like she´ll have a pretty long wait, right Chichi?"he said elbowing his best friend.

Chichi however was looking directly at the two brotherhood members making their way to the archway. There was a familiar calculating look in his eyes and a wicked grin spreading on his face.

"Correction Phil. I _do_ have an idea how to get the key."he said silently to Phil, ignoring Chloe´s bewildered look.

...


	13. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

"Woah. Talk about efficient."whispered Emily to Chloe and April as they watched Chichi collect and compare the various pieces of paper handed down from the kids, who agreed to help in their search for the author.

"I have to say April, when he gets into something, he´s really giving it his all."commented Chloe, awe prominent in her voice as the three girls watched Chichi and Phil interviewing many of the younger and older students who liked and loved the mystery novel – as a result even more people, which had no idea about it came too. Curious, they were quickly filled in on the Great Mystery novel and expressed exactly the same interest and animation for it. It seemed that the novel was getting more popular by the minute, thanks to the efforts of Chichi and Phil.

Their eyes glued on her blonde-headed boy, April sighed lovingly.

"That´s exactly why I love him so much."

Emily giggled but Chloe had a really thoughtfull look on her face, her sights still on Chichi and his infamous tenthousand watt smile.

"_I´ve never noticed how... _beautyfull_ that smile could be... It´s like... the rising summer sun..._"she noted.

Inwardly she felt something pulling her towards the blondie and in that second she could see him exactly as he was...

"After all this time... I can really understand _why_, April."she said in a soft, quiet voice - her eyes still on the said boy, a tiny smile spreading accross her face.

"He´s just like you, Chloe."sounded a voice behind them.

As the trio of girls spun around, they saw a number of girls both from theirs and other classes of their years watching the scene in front of them. And not just them. As April angerly noted, many of the girls from classes younger or a year older than them joined in, focusing all their attention on Chichi, lovesick looks on their faces.

"Yea, he´s simply the coolest."breathed a year younger girl.

Chloe glared the girl, feeling an unexplicable pang of jealousy.

"He _always_ was."retorted April staunchly, glaring all the girls, some of which retreated. She remembered all too well, when neighter of these girls gave a hoot about the wierd blonde Tofu boy, until he baceme a famous face in the school.

"You´re right, April."breahted Sabrina, a girl from the other class - not exactly helping the situation.

"He´s a _genius_."breathed a girl – a year younger from them, starting the wave of girl talk .

"He´s _awesome_..."

"He´s _cool_..."

"He´s _cute_..."

"I wonder how he looks like..._without clothes_..."

The last comment left April smirking, remembering yesterday´s small moment when she had a nice view of his naked backside... and allmost his...

At once she shook her head, fighting the furious crimson blush on her face, ignoring the inquiring look she was getting from Emily. Chloe however looked as though the last comment stirred something in her mind.

"_I wonder... what´s he like in... no, come off it, girl! He´s a _friend_! All the same..._"she took a moment imagining it...suddenly shaking her head fiercely.

"_C´mon, Chloe. __**April**__ is the one who wanted him so fiercely since third grade. She´s one of your _best friends_! You can´t take that away from her! __**Hell, no**__ you can´t! No matter how smart, cute, incredible, capable and... well... __**unbelievable**__ he might appear! __**GOT THAT?!**_"she yelled in her mind, though the small beating of her heart was suddenly hoping to be more closer to the Tofu boy she never really payed much attention to – not THAT way in any case! But right now...

"All right! Everyone interested in the novel into the schoolyard on the double!"he commanded in a firm voice, which the others had no trouble in obeying, both out of – Chloe suspected – respect as much as anticipation.

In less than a few minutes the group of teens, some of which weren´t even there for the novel results, gathered up on the stairs of the schoolyard.

Chichi paced a bit, going from one side to the other – apparently thinking heavily as most of the eyes in the schoolyard followed him.

"To sum it up... we´ve compared all the handwriting of the classes from 6th to 9th year with no results. As Chloe was kind enough to borrow me the book, I´ve read it trough an trough..."

"In 30 minutes I might add."said Phil under his breath, drawing some attention from the people sitting next to him, including April.

Grinning slightly he turned and whispered to April.

"He has a gift, he´s reluctant to show – he´s an incredibly swift reader – he can read trough 50 pages in less than 4 minutes."explained Phil to April who looked shocked.

In a second however that shock turned into anger and jealousy.

"Why didn´t he ever tell _**me**_ about this?!"she said between gritted teeth.

Phil sighed and fixed April with a "Calm down!" look.

"He just didn´t want getting this out. He said he has enough popularity as it is!"

Still feeling a bit angry, April fixed her eyes on some of the girls, which were currently singing praises for Chichi, who to her relief looked mortified.

"I think I know, what he meant."she answered icily, glaring the said girls.

Suddely Chichi cleared his throat, getting the attention of all who were present.

"Ok, after looking over the papers you guys gathered, good work by the way – I´m unfortunately forced to conclude that whosoever wrote the Great Mystery ISN´T from our school."

Chichi´s last comment met up with a wave of dissapointment and saddness. He cleared his throat yet again.

"I AM however confident, that the said person is from Beauvillage – in fact, there´s something about the author´s style, that reminds me of someone..."

One of the younger girls in the crowd swooned.

"Oooh, Chichi d´you think you figured out who´s the author?"asked the girl in a lovesick manner, which had April and Chloe glaring her, while the rest of the girls joined the swoon.

"No...not yet in any case. But I suspect it won´t take long."said Chichi in a business-like manner as he moved closer to his friends, ignoring the swoons, sighs and other sighns of affection from the girls.

The large group of teenagers formed smaller groups of their own, some going back into the school, others moving in small groups across the schoolyard – all of them eagerly discussing what they have just heared. Some of those that remained in the schoolyard were stealing looks at Chichi and Phil, who were now standing near the staircase with April, Chloe and Emily, all three girls could barely contain their excitement.

"Jeez, that tone you took. Plus the deductions..."commented Emily approovingly as soon as he joined their small group .

"_Exactly_ like Detective Razor!"exclaimed Chloe before emracing Chichi.

Phil chuckled to himself.

"That´s just what Lily said yesterday."he commented.

Though in Chloe´s embrace, Chichi´s eyebrow quirked and after a second he looked as though he got the best idea of his life – as though all the knowledge of the world have come to him in a single flash...

"Phil, after we´re done here I want a small word with you."he said in an enigmatic tone, which made even Phil stare in confusion.

"Wow, you already figured something out, Chichi?"asked Chloe still not relinquishing her hold on him, though Chichi didn´t take it bad – in fact he looked very comfortable in the embrace.

He chuckled and distangled himself gently from her embrace, still holding her shoulders in his palms.

"Just a suspition Chloe, really."he said with a small grin.

Chloe´s grin however grew more and more.

"Yup. _Just_ like detective Razor."she commented, drawing a chuckle from him.

"Doubt it, Chloe. Aside from the fact that he uses his head, I´d think he´s more like Miles than me."

"But he has your keen sence for details, Chichi. Its really like he´s been _modeled_ after Miles and you..."

Chichi´s grin grew to match Chloe´s.

"_Exactly_ what I was thinking... anyway, I´ll have your culprit – I mean author – identified in no time flat. And _that´s_ a promise."he said winking at her, flashing her anotherone of his infamous grins.

"You´re the cooooolest, Chichi!"exclaimed Chloe as she closed the small distance between them and kissed him affectionately on the cheek, ignoring any stares they were getting or the sounds of wolf-whistles, ooohs and awwws raging across the schoolyard, or the surprised and hurt looks on April and Oliver´s faces.

...

"So, Lily... what´ve you been doing hanging around the boys so much lately?"asked Lola, catching Lily off guard a bit.

"Oh, you know... they´re helping me with a project and I´m having my hands full keeping them out of trouble..."

Lola looked at her for a few seconds, but from the stare she was getting Lily was sure that her excuse went to waste.

"Lily..."said Lola in a low, hollow voice – one that she used whenever the two reached an inpass.

"C´mon girls, you´re not going to have a row over something like that."came a good-natured voice from behind them – Billy just joined them, separating himself from Steve, Chris and the other boys.

"We´re not arguing, Billy. I just want to know what´s going on."said Lola slightly defensively as her boyfriend wrapped his arm around her shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"I have to say, Lily... I agree with Lola. You´ve been spending almost the entire week with Chichi and Phil. Don´t get me wrong, I don´t mind. However it IS unussual. Is there some sort of a problem...?"he asked uncertainly.

Lily gave a small smile at the sight of the couple, though inwardly thinking about Balthazar and Mrs Longline and what could´ve been had they once more have been as young as Lola and Billy... Shaking her head a bit she gave a small smile towards the young couple.

"We´re just working on a project, Billy. Its nothing that importaint. OR dangerous if that´s what you´re thinking, Lola."

Lola gave a small breath of relief.

"So no Hidehole thistime?"she asked.

"We use it, but only the computers and scanners that´s all."said Lily earnestly.

Billy and Lola exchanged bewildered looks as Lily was looking the other way from the window of their classroom.

"Nothing major? I find it hard to believe since its Chichi and Phil..."pondered Billy.

"Tell me about it, the way I know those two I don´t believe that they´re chaught up in anything normal..."whispered Lola, still eyeing her best friend, who was busy looking at the window apparently thinking about something.

Suddenly Lily gasped, drawing the attention of both Lola and Billy who wasted no time in joining her at the window, trying to find exactly what could´ve caused her reaction.

"All I see is Wiseman´s police car. What´s the big deal, Lily?"asked Lola, eyeing her once more.

Lily´s gaze however was glued on Wiseman´t car, which was now standing near the enterance to the Beauvillage High. Upon closer look she found that he wasn´t in the car alone. He had three passangers. And Lily didn´t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out who it was...

"I´ll be right back, guys."she said and without another word she dashed out of the classroom, leaving the couple stunned.

"Is it just me, Billy or did those two imprint their personality on her..."asked Lola in awe as Billy shrugged just as bewildered.

Lily swiftly dashed down the steps and out of the main door, ignoring the janitor´s cry of "No running!".

Silently sneaking towards the police car, Lily strained her ears to hear as much of what was going on in the car as possible.

"There´s some investigation going on in our school. Chichi Tofu is behind it!"informed Nick growling a bit on the passanger´s seat.

"D´you think it could have something to do with the Bunglewood case, brother Frederick?"asked Tex.

"The Tofus have been researching the _paranormal_ activity around here... perhaps young Chichi and that criminal scum Miles may have stumbled upon something... we have to find out more. Follow young Chichi and his friends a bit in the school and try to find out if they saw something or not. But be carefull, my brothers. Make sure they know nothing! They may stumble upon something and we the Brotherhood of the Wise will once more look like fools. I´ve told you already this case is very importaint and WE have to be the ones who solve it."said Wiseman.

Nick and Tex raised their fists to the air, yelling their approoval, but Archie seemed extremly quiet, aitting in the back of the car – extremly down in the dumps – in fact almost on the verge of tears. Something that not even Wiseman could overlook.

"What´s troubling with you, my little brother?"asked Wiseman in a worried tone, turning around to look at him.

"E...Emmy..."whispered Archie as though the mere word was causing him extreme pain.

"Emmy? What´s that?!"asked Wiseman.

"Emily is our classmate, brother Fred. She and Archie here have known eachother since childhood, since they´re neighbours and all."explained Tex.

"And it looks like the fool is in love with her."snickered Nick.

Wiseman gave an almost girly squeal.

"That´s the most incredible thing I have ever heared. Why so sad then, brother? If I had a girlfriend I´d be tremendously happy."

Archie´s face grew crimson red.

"S...she´s not... my..."

Wiseman however placed a hand on the top of his head and looked at him with a look of extreme seriousness.

"Archie... do you like this girl?"

Blushingly, Archie nodded.

"Very much, brother Fred."

"Do you wish to be with her forever and ever till the end of time?"asked Wiseman in the same serious voice.

Once more, Archie blushingly nodded and voiced his affirmation.

"Would you give your life for her?"

A bit startled for a moment, Archie nodded once more with determination in his eyes.

"Would you give up the brotherhood of the Wise for her?"

Thinking about the question for a second, Archie shook his head rapidly.

"If it came to a choice, what would you choose...? The brotherhood ...or her love?"

Archie thought extremly hard about it, which was a thing in itself... Finally reaching a decidion, he looked at Wiseman with a strong expression.

"Both. I can´t live without the brotherhood, but at the same time I can´t live without her eighter. I want both."

In a swift motion, Wiseman reached across his seat to the back to hug him.

"I´m relieved to know that not even love will stop you from your duties. You show incredible devotion to our brotherhood, while still caring for your loved ones – I´m proud of you, Archie."

Archie looked a bit stricken, but quickly returned Wiseman´s small embrace with tears in his eyes. No one up until now had ever said that he was proud of him. Being bossed by his strict aunt, placed high expectations upon by his mother and not being stood up for by his lazy father sure made marks on his self-esteem. Indeed the only time he felt like he was actually worth something was eighter with Emily or with the Brotherhood. They actually liked him just the way he was... well, except...

"But brother...Emily won´t speak to me."he said tearfully.

"Howcome? Surely the girl would appretiate a member of the brotherhood..."asked Wiseman, perplexed.

Archie sniffed, showing a side of himself Wiseman never seen, one that he dared not show to anyone except Nick and Tex – tears were rolling down his face as he started to cry without any shame at all.

"She...she won´t... speak to me... I´ve... no idea...what... I´ve done... wrong..."

Wiseman looked stricked as Nick and Tex gave rare looks of sympathy.

"That´s true. She got mad at him since he refused to give information regarging our rule nr 23."informed Tex and Wiseman looked at Archie sympatheticly.

"W...what if she won´t speak to me... ever again..."asked Archie, his tears only increasing.

Wiseman suddenly banged his fist on the steering wheel, hitting the horn and though the car-horn sounded across the street, he took no notice of it.

"I WON´T stand for it! Have no fear, my little brother – we WILL rectify the mistake and you will surely have your beloved girl back!"

Archie stopped his crying for a small moment.

"Y...you will...?"he asked unbelievingly – no one had ever done something like this for him.

Wiseman took on a determined look as he looked at him.

"Of COURSE! We´re not the brotherhood of the Wise just when crime is concerned. We also take care of eachother."he said staunchly and the three younger boys were surprised to see a river of tears rolling from underneath his sunglasses.

"B...but brother... do we have time for this? I mean we still have to find a connection between Bunglewood and Ripgrab, not to mention find out whatever the soy-brain knows."argued Nick looking from Wiseman to Archie.

"This takes priority first, brother Nick! No crime or mystery is big enough to stop us helping our brother get his girl."

This comment was too much for Archie. He burst into tears and embraced Wiseman from behind, crying into his shoulder as Wiseman started the car.

"Now boys, we have to help our brother get his girl, next stop – Beauvillage Supermarket."

As the car rolled in top speed, Lily quickly took her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the all too familiar number.

"Chichi... yeah...listen, I gotta tell you what I´ve overheared..."

After a long while she held on the line only to hear Chichi´s excited voice.

"_You´re too much, Lily. Now I know _exactly_ what to do_."

Lily giggled to herself.

"I don´t even want to know what you have in mind. But I expect I´ll find out soon enough..."

Over the line she heared Chichi chuckle.

"_I expect you will... and until the day is out, we´ll have the key._"

Lily smiled to herself, somewhat impressed that Chichi was able to figure out a plan so quickly, but suddenly remembered something.

"Chichi, is Emily nearby?"

A small silence followed, whether he was looking for her, or being suspitious about it, she couldn´t say.

"_Yeah here she is._"he said confirming the former.

"Hand her the phone. I´ve got something _really_ importaint to tell her."

...

As the class ended and Starchy was leaving the classroom, still growling that her nephew skipped class yet again and with blessing of the Beauvillage Police Department and that accursed Detective Wiseman. Dispite the classes ending for the day, no one looked like he was in a hurry to get home, or leave the classroom at all. Instead all eyes were glued on the small group in the back of the class, where Chichi, Phil, April, Emily and Chloe were standing. Only Mia sniffed angerly and left the classroom, looking as angry as old Starchy.

"Look at the handwriting, Phil."encouraged Chichi as Chloe passed the Great Mystery novel.

Completly perplexed, Phil looked over the text on the front page.

"Yea...the g´s are written in a very stylish way, the handwriting itself is almost a work of art. It does seem to be familiar, but I can´t exactly place it."

Chichi´s grin grew more and more.

"You´ve seen it though..."

Phil thought to himself a bit and nodded.

"More than enough times, I think. The trouble is, that I can´t associate it with any person..."

"Well _I_ can."said Chichi with a feral grin.

The crowd grew silent, staring at Chichi with awestruck and shocked looks.

"You... you figured it out...?"asked Oliver staring at him wide-eyed along with most of the boys.

April gave a overjoyed whoop and swiftly threw herself on Chichi.

"That´s my Chichi honey-bun. I knew you´d solve this. You´re my hero!"she exclaimed, losing track of what she was saying as she proceeded to crush her blonde-haired loverboy in her bearhug, just as some of the other classmates erupted into various exclamations of joy and excitement.

"A..._April_!...Can´t... breathe...and..._when_... are you going to... _stop_...calling...me that?!"he managed to let out, as he was desperately trying to catch his breath, while trying to gently push April off himself a bit – at least so that he can get some oxygen into his deprived lungs.

"Neveeeeeeeer!"she squealled as she proceeded to hug the life out of him.

"P...Phil... help...!"pleaded Chichi, his right hand reaching blindly for his best friend, hoping that he might pull him out of the situation.

Philip Conners however grinned at the show infront of himself, folding his arms in a satisfied way.

"Sorry, man. This is for your own good you know."he said, his voice poorly concealing the laughter, which was threathening to escape.

"I... beg... to... differ..."

Emily and Chloe were overcome by a fit of giggles as they watched the fluffy exchange.

"_He´s true blue. I´ve never realized just how... there´s no other word for it afterall... COOL he is!_"said Chloe to herself, as she watched Chichi – her eyes full of newfound affection.

Chichi took long, deep breathes as April finally let him go.

"A...anyway, for the moment – Phil, April, Chloe and Emily – come to my house, so we can wrap this up."he said as soon as he was capable.

Chichi´ s comment left the girls in huge awe. Boys on the other hand were completly impressed, voicing their respect for the Beauvillage´s genius.

"Just like Detective Razor."said Alice to general agreement.

"Yeah, but Phil was the one, who put him on the right track."said Maurice, grinning at the pair.

"Yeah, Phil is just like Rainbows."commented Abbygail, drawing a blush from the said boy.

"They´re right you know."nodded Emily at the two, who were sporting light blushes.

"You´re one hell of a combo."agreed Chloe, giving them a thumbs up.

"The awesome twosome."nodded Oliver and the class sprang into a wave of cheers and applause.

Phil and Chichi shared a small glance and a smile, before they started to comicly bow as though they were top-star theatre actors at the end of a performance. They even added several comical gestures of acknowledgement, drawing laughter from their cheering "fans".

"What´s going on here?"rang a very pissed off voice from the doorway.

Nick´s head was poking out of there, looking extremly angry and embarrassed for some reason. Chichi, Phil, April, Chloe grinned happily, while Emily´s face took on color and she looked nervous. She still had some difficulty believing what Lily told her over the phone. Suddenly into the classroom entered Wiseman, Tex and Nick though half-heartedly. All three of them had red bow-ties, each of them holding a different bunch of objects – Nick holding several boxes of Chocolade desserts, Wiseman a collection of plush toys of about every single animal known to mankind and Tex carrying an almost life-sized teddy bear. Most of the class were staring at them completly stupefied, the small gang in the back of the class however knew exactly what this is about. Chloe´s and April´s faces were slowly betraying feral grins, as they were trying with all their might not to look at Emily, who looked frozen on the spot – face taking on more and more red color. Chichi and Phil´s faces however were working furiously, tiny tears escaping their eyes, faces taking on red color in their desperate attempts to maintain a straight face. They knew that full-out laughter would mess everything up for Emily and the girl was basicly on cloud-nine following Lily´s phone call. Exactly why did she feel so much for the smallest of the brotherhood was a mystery, Chichi was completly sure he would never solve. But as Phil noted to him during the final class, it was scarcely worth solving and they should just be happy for their friend. Chichi had to admit, as he spied April and Emily exchanging many quiet girly giggles during that class, further inceasing Starchy´s already high blood pressure, he just couldn´t mess up their happiness. So now the pair was reduced to holding their laughter at bay as the trio approached and Archie entered the class. The sight of him nearly made Chichi and Phil lose it and the pair had to brace themselfs not to explode in laughter. Emily could barely contain her happiness as she watched Archie, dressed in a jet black tux-top, a blood red bow-tie around his neck and a giant ammount of various flowers.

The class was silent as Archie and the brotherhood made their way towards the back of the class. Chichi and Phil used that moment to escape, quickly running out of class – hands firmly on their mouths. Fortunately no one really paid much attention to it, since all the attention was focused on Archie and Emily. For a second no one said a word, before Wiseman spoke up in a very dramatic voice, adressing her.

"Miss Sweetlong... it has come to my attention, that the actions of our brotherhood have caused you disgruntlement with our brother Archie. For that please accept our sincirest apologies. Also, out little brother has something of the utmost importaince to tell you."said Wiseman as Archie shyly stepped closer, blushing almost as badly as Emily, presenting her the flowers.

"I´m sorry..."he said in a quiet, shy voice passing her the gift.

Emily´s eyes (as well as the eyes of several other girls in the classroom) watered, her smile radiant as she took the flowers from him. Taking a long sniff from them, she peeked a bit at Archie. Smilingly she set the flowers down on the classdesk before grabbing Archie´s arm.

Archie looked up into her face with hopefull eyes as she started to pull him out the door. She returned him her most gentlest smile.

"Not here. There´s an empty classroom just down the hall."she whispered as they exited the classroom.

A moment of silence followed before the class erupted into various talks.

"That was sooooo romantic."breathed Alice, many girls sighing in agreement.

"It looked like, you know... like he was proposing."whispered Abbygail, blushing heavily.

"I gotta hand it to you, when you guys say sorry – you really mean it."noted Chloe shaking her head at the sight of the various gifts they bought.

Oliver let out a low whistle as he, Liam and Maurice came closer.

"Did you guys leave anything in the market?"

Wiseman let out a satisfied sigh, nodding to himself.

"Well, brothers... our job is done. The rest is up to our little brother."he said.

Tex nodded happily, while Nick snickered.

"As long as the dumbass actually plucks up the courage to tell her."

Wiseman grinned at them.

"With the advice I´ve given him, there´s no way he could go wrong, trust me."

Chloe and April grinned at eachother. What made the situation as easy as it was, was largely due to one certain good soul in Beauvillage. But Wiseman definetly wasn´t it. Both girls hoped, that whatever Wiseman advised to Archie won´t mess up the moment.

"Do you really think, that...?"wondered April.

"Let´s hope so. But c´ mon April, give me one good reason why not. I mean would you say no, if Chichi showered you with gifts like that?"said Chloe slyly, elbowing a crimson-faced April.

Wiseman gasped.

"Where is young Chichi?"he exclaimed, looking around franticly.

Nick and Tex also scanned the classroom.

"Even Phil´s gone. Where could they have gone?"wondered Liam.

"After them. We have to find them."exclaimed Wiseman.

All three remaining members of the brotherhood immediatly let go of the objects in their hands – chocolades and plush toys falling on the floor in a huge heap as they dashed out of the classroom. All three scanned the hallway franticly looking from one side to the next.

"That way! Fast!"exclaimed Wiseman pointing to the left side and the threesome immediatly sprang into a full-on sprint.

Turning at a side, not stopping their swift run, they noticed that Mrs Starchy was walking their way carrying a load of notebooks, anger evident on her face even from the long distance at the mere sight of them.

"WISEMAN! Where is my nephew?!"she exclaimed, but the threesome didn´t stop.

Dashing past her, the trio created such a gust of wind, that Starchy was chaught off balance and fell to the ground, the pile of notebooks falling on her head, creating a huge mess.

"Can´t talk now, Mrs Sturky! We have a culprit to catch!"Wiseman yelled back, just as Strarchy was shaking papers off her head.

"IT´S STARCHY YOU HALF-WITTED IDIOT! STARCHY!"

Her angry retort was however missed just as the trio dashed round a corner.

Stopping at the middle of the hallway, they looked at the staircase leading up.

"That way! Upstairs!"commanded Wiseman.

The command met with instant fufillment as the threesome dashed up the stairs. Unbeknownst to them the door right next to the staircase was hiding an empty classroom where a boy and a girl were currently engaged in something.

In the empty classroom Archie was sitting comfortably on the top of a schooldesk, arms around Emily´s waist as the two were sharing a passionate kiss – their first kiss. Parting lips, the two gasped for air, their eyes locked.

"E...Emmy..."breathed Archie in fascination as Emily´s slightly swollen lips turned into her most radiant smile, her arms holding him gently as she let out a happy giggle.

"Lucky that these desks are here."she noted with another giggle.

Truly, Archie was much shorter than she was. Afterall, she was the tallest girl in their class, if not the school. Archie by contrast was a virtual pipsqueek – rating as one of the shortest boys in Beauvillage. Blushing a bit, Archie mimicked her smile as he raised one of his hands and gently ran his fingers in Emily´s hair before he directed her head toawards him, their foreheads touching.

"How did...how did you know?"he asked in wonder.

She knew what he was about to say before they even entered the empty classroom. Giggling once more, she winked.

"Woman´s intuition."

Archie couldn´t help but chuckle.

"How long have you loved me?"he asked.

"I think it was always there. None of that matters right now. What matters is, that with all my heart... I love you, Archibald Smartson."she said with a love-filled look.

"And I love you too, Emily Sweetlong."he said as their faces came closer and their lips locked in another loving kiss.

...

At their lockers, Chichi and Phil were gasping for air, recovering from a laughing fit.

"That was..."breathed Phil, unable to find words for what they just witnessed in their classroom.

"Ok... let´s control ourselfs... afterall...our victims – I mean helpers are sure to arrive at any minute."said Chichi opening his locker.

On the side of the locker door was a lucky mirror he got from Bee on his 13th birthday. Mom insisted that he´d keep taking it whereever he went, resulting in quite a wierd incident with mirrors in Beauvillage not to mention public embarressment as he had to wear the thing around his neck – the chain a courtesy of Pop. In the end, he agreed to take it with himself, but placed it into his locker certain, that sooner or later he would find use for it. That time was now as he glanced into the mirror. The reflection was giving him perfect sight of the long hallway, the only way towards the lockers and out of the school. A few seconds of waiting and he spotted the familiar three faces, which were doing a very poor job of concealing themselfs behind the corner wall. His grin grew as he glanced at Phil, who nodded and passed him a big paper.

"We´ll put the map in my locker until we figure out what to do."he said loudly, knowing the trio was eavesdropping.

"Yeah. Just make sure we don´t lose it, Chichi. Afterall, it marks the exact place, where Evan Ripgrab hid all the proof of his illicit actions."Phil joined in, barely containing his smile.

"Phil! This is TOOOOP SEECRET! No one must know about this. Ooooor that we´re solving the case of Balthazar Bunglewood!"Chichi remarked loudly as he closed the locker door.

The trio could barely believe their ears as they watched Phil and Chichi walk towards the main door and out of the school.

In a single moment the trio was at Chichi´s locker.

"Wow. We were right. Can you believe the nerve of those two?! We´re the ones that´ll solve this mystery!"exclaimed Nick in anger.

"You´ve said it, brother Nick. We must get that map."nodded Wiseman.

Tex tried to turn the handle of the locker, only to find that the door opened.

"Hey, he forgot to lock it."he exclaimed.

"Perfect. Let´s see this map."nodded Wiseman, reaching for the folded paper inside.

The threesome held their breaths as Wiseman spread open the map. There was written a map of the Morter household. In the garden, amongst the many trees was a bright red "X".

"Perfect. With this we can find the evidence and solve the case."exclaimed a happy Tex.

"Not to mention how famous we´ll become for solving it."nodded Nick excitedly.

"To the police station, boys! I must secure a warrant so we can go there."said Wiseman.

The trio ran out of the door at top speed. Suddenly a loud chuckle went from the side of the schoolyard staircase.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb, duuumb."said Chichi as though singing a dramatic melody.

"They fell for it."chuckled Phil happily.

"Right. Call Lily. She and Miles should have everything prepared by now. _Operation Keymaster_ begins now!"

...


	14. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

"Target number 2 in sight."said a young man´s voice from the bushes near the Morter House.

"I was hoping old Morter would have classes into the late afternoon. It´d be more easy if we only had her husband to watch."sighed Lily, who like Miles had binoculars in her hands, the pair of them spying any and all activity in the house and yard.

"No problem, flower-girl. I´m sure our genius-boy has a plan."

Lowering the binoculars, Lily nodded and had to surpress yet another giggle, as she once more looked at what Miles was wearing – combat boots, fatigues and he even had a helmet, tied to which were two small branches, even going as far as to make two dark-green lines on his cheeks using some camouflage paint. He also brought a large back-pack stuffed with who knows what.

"I still can´t understand why in the world did you dress yourself like that."she said shaking her head smilingly.

"Awww c´mon. Chich said that it was an importaint operation. You can´t blame a guy for taking it seriously."he replied in a defensive voice, before once more looking into the binoculars.

"Damn, she went into the garden again. I can´t see very well... it seems to be too dark in there."he said as he was squinting his eyes.

Giggling for what seemed to be a thousandth time in the past 30 minute, Lily gently appreached him from the back and using both her hands lifted his sunglasses above his eyes.

"_Holy cash_! I´ve developed night vision!"exclaimed Miles, blinking several times unbelievingly.

"It´s still daytime, dummy. You might notice as much, if you stop wearing those sunglasses."she said wittily, laughing at the "oooh" he made as though he just realized it.

Several minutes passed in silence as both of them continued to spy the house until they heared a soft laugh behind them.

"Jeez, Miles. What in the hell... this isn´t the army."said Phil chuckling to himself, while Miles pouted.

"Nice to see that you two arrived. Let´s just get the show on the road. I do have something I should take care of pretty soon."

"Like what?"asked Lily confusedly.

"April, Chloe and Emily wanted my help in locating the author of the new novel and I agreed to help."answered Miles furthering Lily´s confusion as Chichi´s face took on a small smirk.

"I´ve already agreed with the girls to meet up ´round our house in two hours. This takes the greater priority right now, plus they told me they have a few girl-talks to take care of first."

The last part of Chichi´s explanation made Lily´s confused look clear up and immediatly replaced with a look of utmost joy.

"You mean that Emily...Archie did..."she started only to see the two younger boys erupt in laughter.

Quickly recounting the tale in the classroom, Lily was once more in full romantic mode, while Miles joined the boys in fits of laughter.

"You... gotta... be...kidding..."he managed to get out between the laughs.

"Talk...about... going... overboard..."Chichi got out between his laughs, tears of laughter in his eyes.

Lily glared the boys.

"Oh stop laughing, you three. Its sweet, that they went out of their way so much."she folded her arms, looking sternly at the trio.

"_Too_ much, Lily."chortled Phil as they erupted into another wave of laughter.

Lily huffed.

"Boys... no sence of romantics at all."she grumbled shaking her head.

In a few moments, the three boys´ laughter cleared up.

"Ok, back to business. I´ve phoned Chief Sharkerly and informed him of everything."started Chichi but Miles gave a exclamation of pure shock and alarm.

"W...wa...wait. _Shark´s_ involved?! Oh no! And you called him...?! See ya!"he said and almost started to run, but Chichi´s hand quickly chaught his arm.

"Hold your horses. Shark _was_ involved in this years back. All we´re going to do is just give him something we found. That´s all."said Chichi in a calming voice.

"Are you sure about this? If its something bad he´ll probably chew us all up alive."said Miles with a hint of fright.

"Completly sure, Miles. This is concerning the single greatest mystery of Beauvillage. The dissapearance of Balthazar Bunglewood."said Lily, explaining it to him as Phil nodded.

"Bunglewood? The ghost, that everyone was yapping about?"

All three nodded.

"I´d love to hear this story in full."said Miles, nodding to himself and folding his arms.

"Later, Miles. Let´s prepare and get into position. I expect that our _diversion_ will be along any moment."said Chichi, a cheeky note in his voice that left Lily and Miles baffled while Phil snickered to himself.

"Ok. Who´ll accompany me into the house to get the key?"asked Chichi looking from Lily to Phil.

"Lily should. She´s able to work the gemstone better than I can."said Phil, reaching into his shirt and pulling out the necklace.

Miles looked extremly curious as Phil passed the necklace to Lily, who instantly put it around her neck.

"Later, Miles. In the meantime, I want you and Phil to position yourselfs as best you can to the house. Keep us informed trough the walkie-talkies in case they come back into the house."said Chichi, pulling three walkie-talkies from Miles´ backpack.

"How are you going to get past the alarms?"asked Phil curiously.

"I´ve helped out ol´ Titus Hubbub too many times with the alarms he and Pop ussually do on the yard. He also shown me some of the new XB´s that this house surely has. I know _exactly_ how to disable it."explained Chichi with confidence, as he pulled out something that looked like black overalls from the backpack.

Spreading them, he started to put them on. Lily let out another giggle when she took a look at him.

"I thought Miles´ costume was enough..."

"You look like a real ninja, Chichi."nodded Phil, as Chichi fastened a belt to himself and placed one of the walkie-talkies on it and placed a tiny earphone into his ear before picking up a small pouch and fastening it to his other side.

"It IS a serious operation afterall. Might as well dress up for it."he replied idly as he grabbed another pair of the black overalls and passed them to Lily, who shook her head smilingly.

"You´re NOT serious, Chichi."

"C´mon, Lily. You wanted an adventure if I recall correctly. Plus who knows... maybe you´ll get _inspiration_ from it."he said mischievously winking at her.

The comment threw Lily off guard. For a second she pondered what did he mean by it. Did he somehow figure out... Dismissing the thought, she nodded and took the overalls from him.

"Wait a minute, _Mega-mind_. If me and Private Phil over here are supposed to be on the lookout and you two Stealth Ninja infiltrate the enemy camp... who´s providing the diversion?" asked Miles counting down on his fingers.

Suddenly a car could be heared heading towards their direction from the street leading down to the town. Chichi´s face sported a feral grin as he motioned them all to hide in the bushes. They did so just in time as a police car swept past them, stopping at the gates of the Morter house. Out of the car stepped four people – each _Wiser_ than the next. The two younger boys snickered, while Miles and Lily´s jaws dropped as they grasped _exactly_ what Chichi has planned.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb duuuumb."

...

"You´re not serious, Wiseman!"yelled Melissa Morter, glaring the intruders in her garden.

"Mrs Morter, I have a warrant allowing me to search your garden for evidence. I have reason to suspect, that your garden holds crutial evidence to the Bunglewood case."said Wiseman, passing the paper to Mr Morter, who looked at it as he scratched his head in confusion.

The very word Bunglewood was enough to get Melissa Morter´s blood right to its boiling point.

"So you see it fit to put holes in my garden?! All on an account of a 20 year old case of an old wacko?!"she yelled pointing her finger on Tex and Archie, who carried shovles and were prepared to dig as soon as Nick who had the map locates the "X".

"Melissa, I´m afraid they _can_. This is an official warrant, giving him the authority to do so. Sighned by the mayor himself."said Maurice Morter looking uneasily at his wife as she flared again.

"_Haveitall_! Who does that old oaf, think he is?! I will be having one serious conversation with him as soon as I can."she ranted.

"I´ve got it! Here´s the place!"exclaimed Nick gesturing a place near the trees.

Tex and Archie immediatly ran to him, shovles in hand.

"Perfect boys! Start digging!"commanded Wiseman, before Mr or Mrs Morter could protest.

The two boys did so with much enthusiasm. So much in fact, that the shovled earth was flying around, litterally everywhere. One piece hit Nick straight in the face, another flew right across the garden and with a loud crashing sound smashed the large expensive-looking garden vase into a thousand pieces. As Mr Morter gasped, another chunk of earth hit his stomache, driving the breath from him and forcing him to his knees.

"STOP! STOP! THAT´S ENOUGH!"screamed Mrs Morter, but the boys scarcely acknowledged her voice let alone command.

"Mrs Morter, this has to be done and let me remind you, that I have full authority to search your yard. If you interfere, I´ll have to arrest you for obstruction of justice."said Wiseman.

As Mrs Morter started to retort, further straining her lungs – shouting at the Beauvillage detective at the very top of her voice, a pair of eyes were watching perched on the nearby tree. Snickering to himself Miles picked up his walkie-talkie.

"_Yellow serpent_, come in this is _Green monkey_, repeat... this is _Green monkey_, over."

On the other side of the house, nestled deep in the bushes another person answered the call.

"This is _Yellow serpent_, I read you _Green monkey_, over."

"The _Wise barons_ are doing their job perfectly, target two is momentarily incapacitated and target one is replying to the excavation attack by the _Wise barons_. Everything clear in sector 1, over."

Phil smiled to himself and quickly scanned the immediate area with his binoculars before picking up his walkie-talkie again.

"_Black leader_... come in _Black leader_, over."

Nearing the place, where the back of the house was situated behind the large fence, one of the black-clad figures reached his hand for his belt and pressed a button on his walkie-talkie.

"I read you _Yellow Serpent_, over."

"_Green Monkey_ reports, that the targets are preoccupied. Sectors one and two are clear, over."

Under his mask, Chichi quirked a smile.

"Excellent, _Yellow serpent_. Make sure that the sectors remain that way. And that the _Green monkey_ keeps his eyes on the targets as well as the _Wise barons_. Operation Keymaster begins, over."

Behind himself, Chichi heared a small giggle.

"You three are really getting into this."said Lily, her wide smile also concealed behind a mask.

"The operation´s success depends on it."said Chichi winking at her as he turned to the problem at hand – the alarm right in front of them.

Moving closer to the fence, he peered across it he spied the XB control pannel installed into the wall. He reached into the pouch and pulled out a rubber band. Reaching for a pebble on the ground he picked it up and at the same time extended the rubber between his fingers to form a sling-shot. Closing one of his eyes in concentration, he took carefull aim and after a while... fired. The pebble flew trouch the fence and in a direct hit, hit the control pannel. Lily gasped as one of the pannel´s green lights went off, but Chichi was already a step ahead. Reaching into the pouch once more, he pulled out a small hook. He reached a hand towards Lily, who was barely able to register what was going on.

"Rope, Lily."he said.

Lily quickly responded handing him the thin rope – commonly used in car equipment, which he instantly tied to the hook and with a single motion threw it on the top of the fence.

"Wait for my signal, then folow me."he said as he started to climb.

In a second he was over the fence. Moving quickly he reached the control pannel and started to fiddle with it a bit. Instantly all the green lights on the pannel were off. Smirking to himself he made a hand-signal to Lily, who followed.

"Boy, you disabled it this easily? You would make for a one terrifying burglar, you know."she said in awe.

"Or one hell of a ninja."he said, his grin visible even with the mask.

Lily giggled and shook her head.

"Let´s not get carried away now. What next, _Black leader_?"she asked, carefully drawing out the codename.

"What else? Let´s go in."

Moving with stealth, from the bushes to the statues on the yard the twosome moved to the back door.

"LOOK WHAT YOU´VE DONE!"sounded across the yard. The voice was unmistakably Mrs Morter´s.

Lily tensed a bit, but Chichi snickered opening the door and gesturing her inside.

In the garden, Melissa Morter was shouting at the top of her lungs, while her husband now recomposed himself, but still gaped at what he saw. Near the tree, where the boys started to dig, there was now a giant hole in the ground.

"There´s nothing there, brother."reported Archie as he surfaced from the hole.

"OF COURSE THERE´S NOTHING THERE, YOU STUPID BOY! WHAT IN THE WORLD WERE YOU EXPECTING TO FIND THERE?!"yelled Melissa Morter, glaring at the two climbing from the hole.

Her comment was however unnoticed by any of them as the trio grouped around Wiseman, who seemed to be deep in thought.

"It seems, that someone moved the evidence around. Perhaps buried it in a different place in the garden to throw us off the trail. Nick, check the map."he commanded.

Nick swiftly brought out the map and scanned it.

"I don´t understand. We dug right where the "X" was."he said, scratching his head.

"Let me see it."piped up Archie, reaching for the map and tearing it from Nick´s grasp.

Nick growled a bit as Archie scanned the map.

"I get it! Perhaps we were reading it upside down. That means, that the "X" is... there!"he exclaimed pointing to a place on the opposite side of the hole.

Mr Morter´s jaw fell open and Mrs Morter let out a howl of rage. However Wiseman gave out a joyous exclamation.

"Perfect insight, brother Archie. I see that the aftermath of your success has awoken a real detective in you."

Archie blushed and gave Wiseman a sheepish smile.

"I could never do it without you, brother Fred."he said in a thankfull voice.

Wiseman clapped a hand on his shoulder, returning his smile.

"It was nothing, my little brother. Now Nick and Tex, let´s start diggin in the place where Archie pointed."he commanded as Mrs Morter gave out another howl of rage.

Once more none of the Brotherhood took notice as Nick and Tex began to dig in a feverent way. Miles nearly gave in to the temptation to laugh. Instead he picked up the walkie-talkie.

"This is _Green Monkey_... come in, _Black Leader_. Sector is clear, the _Wise barons_ are making another hole. You guys are clear, over."

"I read you _Green Monkey_, over."answered Chichi, as they were already in the prestigeous anti-chamber of the Morter household.

Lily was still staring wide-eyed at the surroundings. It was no wonder, that this was rumored to be Beauvillage´s most prestegous house. Even so, the rumors were nothing compared to the real thing. The anti-chamber was roomy, with glossy floors, magnificently shined and polished furniture and a number of statues, which Lily could almost swear to be collector´s items.

"Amazing. Simply amazing."she breathed, looking over the statues and statuettes.

"I have to admit, the sight takes one´s breath away."nodded Chichi also looking around.

Lily gasped and approached one of the statuettes, which was perched on a magnificently shined mahogany table.

"This is an egyptian... woah... this has GOT to be a really valluable piece."she breathed as she examined it in her hands.

"I can imagine. Though I can´t imagine why would they need it. Mr Morter doesn´t seem to be the type for it."wondered Chichi as he approached her.

"Mrs Morter doesn´t look like it, but she really loves history and she´s an enthusiast about ancient civilizations. She even works in the history field at times – she´s my father´s competitor."

Chichi quirked an eyebrow.

"I didn´t know that... anyway, let´s get the key while we still have the time. Get the gemstone going."he said, breaking her out of her small trance.

Setting the statuette down, she nodded and shut her eyes in deep concetration. Under the black overall suit, she could feel the gemstone lighting up even as they moved down the hall towards the stairs, trying to ignore the many luxurious rooms that came into view. Moving up the staircase onto the house´s second floor, Chichi turned his sights to Lily again, who closed her eyes again. The gemstone´s glow shone a bit trough the overalls, as though she had a lit flashlight under them. Opening her eyes, Lily pointed to a door at the far end of the 2nd floor hallway. Grinning broadly the pair set into the pointed door as quickly as they could, their movements informed by as much excitement as urgency. Quickly entering the attic, they had a look around. There were many shelves and two closets on the left, two the right. Eyes closed in concetration once more, Lily willed the gemstone to reveal the location of the key. Suddenly a bright green light shone from underneath her overalls and at the same time, one of the closets on the left bagan to emit the same bright green light from its inside.

"Too much!"said Chichi and like wind he moved towards the closet, opening it with animation.

There, among the many items on the shelfs one item was shining in bright green light. Lily opened her eyes and stopped her concetration. As the gemstone´s light waned, Chichi took the object which was also surrendering its light. It was a small chest. But not like the one, that they found in the museum. Merely a plain, mud splattered tiny chest. On its sides were dark red, fingermarks which looked like...

"Dried blood. This HAS to be it."breathed Chichi as Lily scooted closer.

Taking a small breath to calm himself, Chichi slowly opened the chest. Inside there was a single object – a symbol-like pendant of what seemed to be pure white crystal. From its very top was a simple chain, which was obviously used for wearing. There was no mistaking it – THIS was the key they searched for. Neighter one of them could hold in their fascination as Chichi took the crystal into his hand.

"W... wow."breathed Lily.

"Too much!"nodded Chichi.

A loud sound of something breaking downstairs roused them from it. Chichi tensed and quickly reached for his walkie talkie.

"_Green monkey_... this is _Black leader_... come in, over."he spoke in urgency.

A moment´s silence passed. Then the reply came, but Chichi was unable to understand a word among the many laughing sounds. Sharing a curious look with Lily, Chichi took the walkie-talkie again.

"_Yellow serpent_ come in, over."

This time the reply came instantly.

"This is _Yellow serpent_, over."

Chichi breathed a sigh of relief.

"Phil, what the hell is going on in there. What´s up with Miles?"he asked urgently.

"He´s having a hard time keeping himself on the tree. He´s laughing so hard, but I have no idea why."

As Chichi was pondering upon Phil´s report, the walkie-talkie gave out another sound.

"_Green monkey_ reporting on development in Sector 1."said Miles, still snorting a laugh.

"I read you, _Green monkey_."said Chichi urgently.

"The _Wise barons_ set out another excavation attack. But this time their clumsy pipsqueak lost grip of his shovel and it flew trough the garden. It hit the porcelan statue at the garden door and it was blasted into smithereens. You should´ve seen it. What a shot."said Miles before erupting into silent laughter.

Chichi and Lily looked at eachother, sharing a small laugh.

"So _that´s_ what all the screaming is about."said Lily, refering to the screaming and yelling coming from the yard. It was so loud, that it could be heared even in the house. In fact, she would not be surprised if the entire street was able to hear Mrs Morter´s angry rant.

"Anyway, let´s get out of here. We have what we need."said Chichi, an urgent tone in his voice.

Outside, Mrs Morter had litteraly shouted herself into silence, her husband was trying with all his might to calm her down, his hands on her shoulders and a look of desperate pleading on his face.

"Melissa darling, please. Remember your blood pressure."he pleaded.

"SHUT UP, YOU MORON! THAT STATUE WAS A VALUABLE PIECE!"she yelled back, as Mr Morter jumped back a bit in fright as though hit by an electric shock.

"Its OK, sweety. I´ll buy you a new one, first thing tommorow."said Mr Morter, pleading with her.

"THAT´S NOT THE POINT, IDIOT!"she retorted in rage, glaring the foursome.

"I have no idea what to do, brother."said Nick scratching his head as the foursome looked over their handywork.

In the garden were now four large holes in the ground, the flower patch ruined as a pile of dug-up earth was thrown onto it in haste. The same held true for the porch and the neatly shined chairs and table. Plus some of the house´s outer walls. And a total of 11 garden gnomes, 4 vases, a porcelan flower holder and now a priceless life-sized porcelan statue of Achilles – a piece that Mrs Morter went to great lengths to aquire, fell victim to the Brotherhood´s furious excavation attack.

"The map said that the proof is hidden here in the garden. But we´ve come up empty-handed."said Tex, lowering the map.

"What kind of a map is it?!"asked Mrs Morter furiously, snatching it from his grasp and scanning it herself.

"Hey, that´s police evidence."exclaimed Archie.

"Tell it to someone who cares, shorty!"retorted Mrs Morter angerly before she looked at the map once more.

Narrowing her eyes, she looked at the map.

"Excatly _where_ did you four get this?"she asked in a deadly voice.

"Our sources are strictly confidential."replied Wiseman in a matter-of-fact tone.

"And how pray tell, have you gone under the impression, that the land on the map is _our_ house and _our_ garden?"

At this the foursome tensed. All of them looked from one to the other, obviously unable to figure out any kind of excuse.

"Well you see, Mrs Morter... I used my ingenous powers of deduction as we procured this map and..."Wiseman started to explain, but Melissa Morter´s eyes flared.

"So you came here, demolished my garder, even destroyed my precious Achilles... ALL ON ACCOUNT OF SOME IDIOTIC DEDUCTION?!"she asked, working herself up into a towering rage as the younger boys of the Brotherhood as well as her husband started to back away in fear.

"WHAT? You _dare_ doubt the famous detective Frederick Wiseman?"questioned Wiseman in exaspiration, pointing to himself with his thumb.

Chichi and Lily just regrouped with Miles and Phil and were about to take their leave, when the main gate flew open and an incredible loud voice shouted.

"OUT! OUT! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE AND PROPERTY!"

A second later the infamous Brotherhood ran out at top speed, as though running for their lives. Chichi, who already removed his mask tensed, along with his friends. There was no place to run or hide to avoid being seen. Or for that matter, avoid being crashed into. With a loud crash the brotherhood crashed into the foursome and a second later they were all on the ground, tangled into one another.

"Ouch, who the hell..."growled Nick as they all distangled themselfs and stood up.

"Very sorry, soldier... I had no idea... MILES!"exclaimed Wiseman as he took a good look at exactly _who_ he crashed into.

"Yo, Wisey. Wassup?"greeted Miles as though this kind of thing happened to them everyday.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here?!"asked Tex angerly, glaring Phil and Chichi.

"Aww... you know..."started Phil, trying with all his might to come up with an excuse. Somehow he doubted, that they could use the date excuse again.

"What´s with the gettup, Tofu?"Archie snorted a laugh, looking at the two ninja costumes.

"Perhaps you four would like to explain these strange circumstances?"asked Wiseman impatiently, obviously in no mood for games.

"What´s it look like, Wisey-guysey? We were playing _soldiers and ninjas_."said Miles moving to Chichi and Lily, grabbing both of them around their shoulders, grinning happily.

"Never heared of that game before."said Archie in confusion.

"Neighter have I."remarked Wiseman, his eyes narrowing in suspition.

"And why does Phil have no costume then?"asked Tex, pointing to Phil.

"_Of all the times, NOW he has to be observant._"Chichi thought.

Miles quickly racked his brain for a good story – a skill he picked up in Megacity during his childhood.

"Of _course_ he has no costume. He´s the reffery. You see, the point of the game is for the soldier to catch the ninja or the other way around. But to make sure no foul play corrupts the game, and to decide exactly who won and why – ta daaaa – the refery is here. That´s why he has those binoculars."

Miles´ explanation left the four looking from one to the other. In a large collective "aaah", it seemed that they actually believed the story. Until...

"Hey, what´s this?"wondered Nick as he kneeled to pick something from the ground.

To Chichi and Lily´s horror it was the crystal key.

"Oh that´s the prize for the wining team, Nick."answered Chichi, holding out his hand to Nick.

But Nick was examining the key with interest.

"I could´ve sworn I´ve seen this symbol somewhere..."

Chichi, Phil and Lily´s mouths fell open, whereas Miles´ was looking in genuine confusion.

"Let me see it, brother... Yeah I think I´ve seen it too."responded Archie, taking the key into his hand and examining it.

Chichi was growing more and more frustrated, slowly losing his cool as the key was in the hands of the enemy. Not to mention, that chief Shark was to come into Beauvillage soon, for the evidence inside the Chest of secrets – this was no time for games. He was already starting to have a sneaky suspition about exactly why did the symbol look familiar to them.

"Now I remember! It was on the door of Bunglewood´s house! This is tied in to the Bunglewood case!"exclaimed Nick, confirming Chichi´s suspition and worst fear at the same time.

"What? Then the key is evidence. Let me have it."exclaimed Wiseman, holding out his hand.

"Catch, brother."said Archie, throwing it to Wiseman.

However in a swift motion, Chichi chaught the key in his hand and ran down the hill, deterimned to put as much distance between the key and the Brotherhood as possible.

"After him!"commanded Wiseman, but he scarcely needed so.

Nick, Tex and Archie were already on his trail, with Wiseman following too.

"C´mon. We can´t let them get the key."exclaimed Lily.

Miles and Phil nodded and the trio sped down the hill after Chichi and his persuers.

...

The Beauvillage Park was beautyfull at this time of the afternoon. Not to mention in the aftermath of an extremly joyous event such as Emily Sweetlong just experienced. In fact, she was giddy with excitement as she, Chloe and April were standing on the famous _Bridge of Love_.

"...and he asked me out for a date. He´s supposed to come for me around 7pm."she finished, her voice high from excitement.

April and Chloe shared a long – in April´s case longling – sigh. They were extremly happy for their friend eversince Emily returned to the classroom – a dazed expression on her face, her lips slightly swollen from all the kissing the unused classroom must´ve endured. April made a point to call Chichi to postpone their meeting at the Tofu house. Great Mystery or not – _this_ takes priority. And so the girls went straight into the park to have some girl-talk. Now as Emily recounted in extreme detail exactly what happened in the unused classroom, the two girls were almost as giddy as her. Chloe couldn´t contain her excitement any longer. With a happy squeal she jumped at Emily for a bear-hug. The two girls jumped around happily, but as they noticed April didn´t join in. As they looked at her, she offered a kind smile.

"I´m really happy for you, Emmy."she said weakly.

"What´s wrong, April."asked Chloe, letting go of Emily.

"Oh nothing. Its just that... you and Archie are together now... and..."she said weakly, her voice betrying hints of sadness as the girls approached.

"... well I was hoping, that Chichi would ask me too."she finished sadly.

Chloe quickly grabbed her hand, Emily grabbed her other.

"Don´t you worry, April. He will. Definitely."nodded Chloe in a staunch manner.

"I´ll help too, April."said Emily in a honest voice.

"You will?"asked April, completly surprised.

"Of course."nodded Emily.

April´s eyes watered a bit as the three embraced.

"You´re the best friends a girl could ask for."she said in a moved voice.

"Don´t you worry, April. With our help, your Chichi honey-bun will be running into your arms in no time."promised Chloe as the embrace broke.

April nodded happily, feeling a lot better. Suddenly they saw a figure dressed in had-to-toe black racing across the park towards them. Neighter had to look twice to know, exactly who did that mop of blonde hair belong to. All three gasped.

"No way..."breathed Emily.

"Could it be...?"wondered Chloe, a small smile on her face.

April´s haunted look was starting to turn into a look of ultimate happiness, as the figure was running straight toward her.

"C... Chichi?"she breathed, almost not able to believe it.

Chichi noticed them as he was running to the bridge. The three familiar girls standing on the bridge – Chloe on the left, Emily on the right and April in the middle – right in his way.

"April!"he called, hoping she´d get the hint and move away.

"CHICHI!"she squealled, spreading her arms open as Chichi came to a moment-defying stop in front of her, breathing as though he ran for miles.

"...April..."he said, trying to tell her to move, but his lack of breath rendered him unable to do so.

"CHICHI!"she squealled once more, launching herself at him and catching him in a bear-hug, snuggling into his right shoulder.

Chichi´s face took on color as he grabbed her shoulders and tried to gently peel her off him, only to find that she wouldn´t budge – she was holding him in a deathgrip.

Emily and Chloe watched the scene with a mixture of surprise and hope.

"A...April...please... April, I need to get out of here and fast."Chichi finally managed to say as April raised her head from his shoulder and looked at him in confusion.

"Why?"she asked curiously.

"Freeze, Tofu."came another voice from behind the girls, from the other side of the bridge.

"That´s why."said Chichi as he glared over April at Nick.

"We got you now."sounded another voice ahead of them, making Emily gasp.

"Archie? What are you doing here?"she asked startled at her new boyfriend´s sudden appearance.

Both boys were approaching them from both sides, the girls looking curiously from Chichi to the newcomers.

"Chichi what´s going on here?"asked April in complete confusion.

"Game over, Tofu. Hand over that object."said Archie as he neared Chichi´s back.

Chichi quickly scanned the area. There was no way how to get off the bridge now. He was cornered. However he spotted something that will help. Or rather, someone. Grinning he reached into his pouch for the rubber band with one hand and for the key in his pocket with the other.

"You´ve got no choice, Tofu. Hand it over."said Nick in a threatening voice.

In a fluid motion Chichi turned to the side of the bridge, the rubber streched between his fingers. Using the key like the pebble at the Morter house, he aimed it swiftly before calling out.

"_Yellow serpent_, CATCH!"he called, catching the two off guard as he shot out the key across the waters of the Beauvillage Lake.

Nick and Archie gasped as the crystal pendant flew across the water on to dry land and right into the hands of Phil Conners, who sped away from there instantly.

"What did you do _that_ for?!"growled Archie glaring Chichi.

Chichi let out a small chuckle.

"I don´t have the time for stupid questions. I still have to get somewhere."he replied in a cheeky voice.

"You´re not going anywhere, Tofu."said Nick, bringing out a set of handcuffs he got from Wiseman.

The girls gasped as Nick approached. Chichi however laughed and with another swift motion jumped from the side of the bridge, landing in the river with a loud splash.

"After him! And the others too!"screamed Nick as he turned and ran off the bridge.

"Archie! What the hell is going on?!"asked Emily.

Archie however shook his head.

"I´ll tell you later, Emmy. Right now we have to catch the bio-degenerate and his stupid friends."he said hurriedly before he sped across the bridge after Nick, but turning in another direction.

The three girls looked from one to the other, each unsure about what to think of the entire ordeal. Suddenly they saw Lily dressed in exactly the same thing run across the walkway just visible from the bridge on the opposite side, where Chichi jumped over. She seemed to be running away from someone, and a second later Tex came into view running after her. As she sprinted on the walkway, she saw Miles running to meet her. Getting the idea, she nodded and as she approached him, passed the key to him. The moment he got it, he sped up his pace and overtook Tex in such speed that Tex losing balance, rolled on the ground. He was nearing on of the park´s numerous exits until he spotted something that caused him to try and stop his speed – Wiseman was standing at the exit of the park, expecting him. Digging his heels into the dry and dusty ground, Miles came to a stop infront of Wiseman. However the combat boots he had, made a giant dust cloud, which went straight for Wiseman dustying him from heat to toe.

"S´cuse me."said Miles with an innocent grin as Wiseman was chaught in a coughing fit from all the dust.

Swiftly turning, Miles ran back once more at top speed.

"COME BACK HERE!"yelled Wiseman before he persued.

Tex was just getting on his feet again, when a voice screamed behind him.

"GANG WAY!"yelled Miles as he overtook him again, once more sending Tex to the ground.

"YOU WON´T GET AWAY FROM ME, MILES!"yelled Wiseman as he sped past Tex, not even noticing, that he was on the ground.

Noticing Chichi on the other side of the park – on a different walkway, he threw the key.

"CHICH, CATCH!"

And Chichi, dripping wet chaught it and sped in another direction followed by Nick.

"Phil!"he called throwing the key to Phil, who was chased by Archie.

"Lily!"screamed Phil, throwing the key to Lily, who was followed by a torn up and dirty Tex.

"Miles!"she yelled, throwing the key to Miles, who had a dusty Wiseman on his heels.

The chase continued for almost 20 minutes. During this time, the key was litteraly flying from one holder to the other in their feverent effort not to let it fall into enemy hands. But the four friends ended up being cornered in the _Circle of Natural Life_ with Nick, Tex, Archie and Wiseman guarding all four exits, everybody breathing hard trying to catch their breath.

"Like...oops."said Miles sheepishly as the four were standing at the human statue, each watching their way. Miles´ sunglassed eyes were boring into Wiseman´s sunglassed ones as Wiseman, breathing hard was standing at the wolf statue.

"Looks like we goofed."noted Phil, looking at Archie who was at the goat statue, breathing hard.

"What now? We can´t just surrender the key."wondered Lily, looking at Tex standing at the hawk statue.

"On my mark, we jump over the benches."said Chichi, glaring at Nick who returned it from the bull statue, puffing like a real bull would.

"Are you nuts, Chichi? There´s roses in those bushes. You´ll rip yourself to shreds."replied Lily, completly startled.

"Gladly. If it means getting the key away from them. Hand it to me. No point in mangling yourselfs too. I´ll escape myself."said Chichi.

"No way! I´m not leaving you in this, Chichi."said Phil staunchly.

"Me neighter. Why don´t we just fight ´em?"asked Miles.

"No way, Miles. Wiseman can press charges then."said Lily.

"Would someone mind explaining just what in the hell is going on?"came an exaspirated voice from Archie´s back.

Chloe, Emily and April came to the circle, all three girls looking both curious and a little annoyed at the chase.

"We´re arresting these four hooligans."said Wiseman in a firm voice.

"Why, detective? Have they done something wrong?"asked Emily, looking from Wiseman to the foursome at the statue.

"They have a piece of evidence, Emmy. And refuse to hand it over."said Archie, pointing at the foursome.

"Not to mention, the offence they made towards me."nodded Nick, glaring at Chichi who looked as puzzled as everyone but the Brotherhood were.

During the entire 20 minute run, no one uttered a single swear word much less insulted Nick.

"Offence? What d´you mean?"wondered Chloe.

"They pissed me OFF, that´s what!"bellowed Nick, pointing at Chichi.

"Exactly, brother Nick."nodded Wiseman.

Miles and Chichi let out a humorous laugh.

"THAT´S a crime now?"asked Miles, still laughing.

Chichi however had a small brainstorm. A swift "Plan B" formed in his head.

"Hey, detective. All right, we´ll hand you the pendant."he called.

"HUH?!"sounded from Phil, Lily and Miles all of which looked at Chichi as though he were mad.

"BUT under two conditions. First – I´ll deliver you the pendant in 30 minutes, and second – we get to keep it afterwards."

Phil, Lily and Miles looked at eachother, small smiles forming on their faces as they grasped at what Chichi was trying to do. Wiseman however laughed openly.

"I´m afraid, that you´re in no position to give any conditions at all, young Chichi. You will hand the evidence over and that´s that. Unless you want to be arrested."

Chichi sighed to himself.

"OK, back to "plan A" then. Hand me the key."said Chichi, holding out his hand.

"All right. I hope you know what you´re doing, Chichi."sighed Lily.

"I´m afraid he has no other choice, Lily."said Phil quietly as Lily made her way towards him, grasping the key in her hand, wishing they had some way to escape the circle.

Suddenly the crystal key started to shine in a bright light.

"Huh?"breathed Phil as Lily approached him and Miles who approached curiously, the light was picking up on the intensity.

A series of screams followed. Those that were close to the statues jumped into the circle, for the statue´s mineral stoned eyes started to glow as well.

"Not again."squealled Chloe, backing up a few steps.

"T...the ghost...he´s back."breathed Archie, reaching for Emily shaking like mad, both of them standing next to Wiseman.

At that, April let out a terryfied scream and ran to Chichi, grabbing his in a fearfull hug also shaking.

"B...brother, I´m scared."shivered Tex as he stood next to Nick.

Suddenly the ground started to shake. The stoned pavement began to move. In a flash, everyone in the circle dissapeared into the ground, falling below the circle and after a few moments, the pavement ground repaired itself to its normal position, the mineral stones surrendered their glow.

...


	15. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

"Ouch... where am I."moaned Phil as he tried to lift himself up.

Blinking his eyes repeatedly he tried desperately to readjust his eyesight only to find... darkness. In a second, incredible fear overtook him.

"Hello? Anybody here?"he called in a fearfull voice.

Suddenly he gave a loud yelp as he felt something grab his hand.

"Phil, it´s me."said a voice, he had no trouble in recodnizing.

"Lily?"he asked, his spirits soaring.

"In the flesh. Are you hurt?"she asked in a bright voice.

"A few bumps and bruises, but nothing beyond that. Where do you think we are?"he asked, finding himself to be calmer than he would expect himself to be, perhaps because he wasn´t alone in this.

"I think that we´re bellow the Circle of Natural life. I wished for a way out of the situation and that must´ve activated the key. Say... that gives me an idea."she said.

A moment later, the gemstone on her shirt lit up, bathing the surroundings in a gentle green light.

"Excellent idea, Lil. That brightened up the situation."exclaimed Phil with enthusiasm.

Lily giggled.

"You said it, Philip. Now, let´s look at where we are."

The pair of them looked around. The place was huge, almost cathedral-like. The pavement like stones were on the cieling as well as the floor. The walls however were decorated by a number of magnificent statues, as well as numerous symbols on the wall. There was no doubt, that this was the work of the Sucelli Cult.

"I think we´re in the Sucelli catacombs."breathed Lily, remembering what they read about them in Balthazar´s diary.

"Incredible. Look at the statues. Mineral stones in most of them. Lily, try lighting them up too."said Phil.

Lily nodded and tried communicated her will to the gemstone. In a moment, the mineral stones all lit up – the large room was literally bathed in numerous colors as the mineral stones were shining like light-bulbs.

"Amazing."breathed Phil, looking around the room.

"It´s like a temple or a church."said Lily inspecting the numerous statues, and pointing to a large altar in the very middle of the room.

"Hey, look."said Phil pointing to the cieling.

Looking up, Lily saw what he meant. On the giant cieling there were multiple large stone pipe-like sleds – all of them leading from the room. All of them were connected to different places in the cieling.

"The others must´ve fallen trough there."said Phil, voicing her thoughts.

"That must mean, that they came out at different places. Who knows where."she wondered as her eyes tracked the numerous pipes.

Phil´s gasp made her look at him. Following her look, he pointed ahead of himself.

"Miles!"she breathed as her eyes fell on the figure lying on the ground, his sunglasses besides him.

The pair quickly ran to him, both fearing the worst – the fall wasn´t exactly the safe one – they appear to have fallen into the cushioned center, Miles apparently wasn´t so lucky.

"Miles! Miles...wake up."breathed Lily in terror as she shook his shoulder.

For a second both of them thought that the fall killed him, until...

"...hm...more cash, please... yeah...more... lots and lots of cash..."he mumbled, obviously asleep.

Lily´s jaw fell open, whereas Phil couldn´t help but snicker.

"He´s even _dreaming_ of money."he noted, placing a hand on his mouth trying to still the chuckles.

"This is NOT funny, _Philip_! I´m surprised he´s not hurt."scolded Lily, and Phil tensed a bit from the way she used his name as she continued to shake their slumbering friend.

As her attention was fixed on Phil, she failed to notice that Miles was slowly opening his eyes.

"Huh... woah is that an angel?"he mumbled, looking up.

At the comment, Lily blushed a deep crimson red. Miles rubbed his eyes a bit and then recodnizing the two figures grinned.

"Yo guys. Wassup."he announced himself.

"Weeeelll... we fell down into the catacombs and lost the others... that´s up."said Phil sporting a small smile.

"Ooooh, that explains it."said Miles as he got up and looked around.

"Woah. Take a look at this place. This wasn´t in the history books from what I remember."he commented.

"Probably not. Anyway, we have to find the others."said Lily, who was still fighting the furious blush on her face.

"We´ll probably need a bit more than the gemstone though. I´m not sure, we´ll be able to light up the other rooms this easily."noted Phil pointing to the darkness behind the only door out of the room.

At this Miles started to go over his backpack.

"Ta-daaa!"he exclaimed as he took out three flashlights.

"Always prepared, huh?"giggled Lily flashing him an admirable look.

"That´s my motto – Always prepared, something always comes up."nodded Miles, grinning in a big way, pointing to himself with his thumb making both of them laugh.

"Ain´t that the truth. Anyway, let´s go. I´m not sure the others had such a comfortable fall like we did."said Phil already lighting his flashlight and moving towards the door.

"You´re right, Phil. Plus I´m pretty sure that they´re groping in the dark. As far as I know, neighter of them has a flashlight. Or a gemstone for that matter."she agreed, mimicking the younger boy.

"Say guys, d´you think we´ll find the buried treasure?"asked Miles with bright curiosity at the prospect.

Lily and Phil laughed.

"Miles, there´s no hidden treasure here."said Lily as though explaining something to a child.

"Oh, come oooon. Why did we bother with that key, then. There _has_ to be something here. _Gold_, _silver_, _money_, _cash_, _greed_ – you know, unclaimed treasure of profitable character."he listed making wild gestures at each word.

Sharing another laugh and a small look with eachother, Phil and Lily turned towards the doorway.

"We´ll explain as we go."said Lily as the trio dissapeared in the darkness, neighter of them registering a small laugh from somewhere in the back of the room.

...

April awoke in the darkness to an ear-splitting howl of pain. Squinting her eyes in the darkness she looked desperately around, terryfied as she heared more moans of pain.

"W...who´s there?"she called in a trembling voice.

"April? It´s me."sounded a voice of the one person she longed to be with, but for some reason it was tainted with pain.

"Chichi."she breathed just as a flashlight lit up in the darkness.

She squinted her eyes, to adjust to the light in the darkness. As soon as she did, she moved closer to the light.

"Are...ow...are you ok?"he asked, pointing the flashlight to the ground as she neared him and knelt besides the place where he was laying.

"Fine. I expect you broke my fall."she said, remembering that as they fell, she felt Chichi´s arms around her waist and she was glued to him as they sled who knows where. The thought alone got her cheeks burning. However she wondered, why was Chichi still lying on the ground.

"Glad to...ouch...be of help, wish I could say the same..."he panted.

"What d´you mean?"she asked in alarm, reaching her hand and grabbing him on a random spot.

The instant she touched him, he howled in pain. Alarmed, she pulled her hand away. She felt something on the palm of her hand, something warm and moist. Chichi pointed the flashlight on his leg and she gasped. The fabric of the black overalls was torn up and beneath him, his exposed leg was all red with...

"BLOOD! You´re hurt!"she exclaimed, her voice echoing around the place.

Chichi gave a low growl, both out of pain and anger as he pointed the light at numerous places around. The light was reflected from what looked like mineral stones, which were growing at random out of the walls. As he stilled his light on the stone sled, he let out another growl – thistime purely in anger.

"It must´ve been that damn sled! There must´ve been a loose stone or other object somewhere on the way...OUCH!"he exclaimed in pain.

"Hand me the flashlight, let me see it."said April urgently.

Obeying, he did so and April instantly started to look over his wounded right leg.

"Oh no. It´s scratched on several places and you have two deep gashes beneath the knee."she said, her eyes watering.

"Damn it! I only have a bandage in my pouch. I didn´t count on something like this happening."he growled as he tried to get up.

His efforts however were futile. The instant he moved, he gave a howl of pain and quickly lay back on the ground.

"Chichi, don´t move! You´ll injure it even more!"she commanded in a frightfull tone.

"DAMN IT!"he exclaimed punching the ground as he tried to move again, with the same result.

He took a small moment, trying to figure out a solution, trying to forget the pain which was numbing his brain so much, he could barely think straight.

"No other choice. April, take the flashlight and try getting back. Get help and come back for me."he said.

"No way! I´m not leaving you here, Chichi."she exclaimed alarmingly.

"April... you have to. I´m not able to move and we can´t stay here."he reasoned, gritting his teeth at the pain.

"No Chichi! I´m not leaving without you. Oh, if only I brought my first aid kit."she shook her head, fighting the tears.

Suddenly an idea formed in her mind. She remembered the funny book, she borrowed from Chichi´s room. Innitially she doubted it might work, she still does but quite frankly she has nothing to lose now. Not paying attention to his curious look, she got up and went to the wall.

"These look just like the ones, the book described. Now I have to find a green or purple one."she said to herself outloud.

"What? What are you talking about, April?"inquired Chichi as he watched her pick up a stone and smashed it at one of the mineral stones on the wall. As she did so, she remembered exactly what she read in the book.

_-Flashback-_

_Already in her pyjamas she was laying in the make-shift bed in Lola´s room, reading the book she got from Chichi´s room, softly giggling to herself. She decided on checking out the book before sleeping, she really didn´t have much to do as Chichi was already asleep and Lola was in the shower. _

"_This spell requires a gem or mineral stone, but it is very risky. It can instantly heal almost any illness or injury. But the price is extremly high. The user risks transfering the damage or injury onto himself, often times even worsening it upon transfer. There is however one way around the risk – when the user is healing someone whom they love with all their heart: a parent, sibling, offspring, lover. The purity of the user´s feelings transfers into the spell and is capable of fully restoring the patient."_

_She swooned as she read out the incantation and instructions. _

"_Someone whom I love with all my heart, huh?"she gave a dreamy sigh as she turned on her back, placing the book on top of her beating heart. _

_She imagined Chichi being in some serious injury and she magicly healing his wounds, then Chichi expressing a very passionate "thank you". She sighed another lovesick dreamy sigh._

"_But what are the chances of THAT happening. It´s not like it actually works afterall."_

_-End of Flashback-_

"_Well, it´s time to find out._"she thought as she picked the purple mineral stone and held it over his injured leg.

"A...April? What are you doing?"asked Chichi weakly.

"Trust me, Chichi."she said, looking at him in the dim light, the flashlight on the ground provided.

Unsure, Chichi nodded as she closed her eyes in concentration. Following the instructions she read that night, she pictured his injury in her mind, then the healthy leg as it was and finally Chichi and all the love she felt for him. Suddenly the mineral stone started to glow in a strong purple light, lighting the entire surroundings.

"_She... she´s using..._"Chichi thought in alarm, but suddenly he felt the pain going away – the leg was starting to feel warm as though it was sinking into a pleasantly warm bath.

A few moments later the glow vaned. April slowly opened her eyes to find that Chichi was feeling his right leg and for a second thought that the thing didn´t work when she saw, that it was still covered in blood.

"All healed... the gashes are completly healed... April..."he breathed as he stood up with no difficulty.

April´s face brightened up into a radiant smile.

"_It worked! It actually worked! Chichi´s all right!_"she screamed in her mind, as she was too moved for words, her eyes wetting with happy tears.

Chichi however was looking her up and down, his expression haunted.

"That was Green Magic... April where on Earth did you learn that?"he asked in an urgent tone as he knelt besides her.

April looked slightly ashamed as she looked him in the eyes.

"It was from one of those books you had in your room. I borrowed one for light reading. You said they were nothing importaint, so I thought you wouldn´t mind me borrowing one."she explained.

Chichi suddenly grabbed her shoulders gently.

"But...the rules! You have to give something back! What´s the price? The book was bound to have written so."he said in a desperate voice, his grip on her tightening as though he was afraid that she would fall apart in front of his eyes.

"There was one exception. That you only do this for the one you lo... care about."said April shyly, not meeting his eyes, her cheeks burning.

"Y...you care that much for me?"he breathed, his cheeks reddening more and more.

Shyly and just as blushingly, April nodded.

"I always care for you, Chichi honey-bun."she said quietly.

Moved by her words, Chichi pressed her to him in a gentle hug. Smiling she retunred it, laying her head on his shoulder comfortably.

"Thanks, April. And... wait a minute... _when_ are you going to _stop_ calling me that?!"he grumbled a bit.

April giggled a bit, snuggling into his shoulder lovingly.

"Never."

...

"Lucky you guys always carry flashlights with you."breathed Emily as Archie and Wiseman were examining the corridor they fell into.

"Brotherhood rule nr 14 – always carry some equipment, you never know when you might need it. Right, brother Fred?"said Archie in a happy voice as he held Emily´s hand.

Wiseman nodded.

"Exactly, little brother Archie. The Wise rules help our Brotherhood get the case done."he said in a proud voice.

"You guys are truly amazing."breathed Emily as she bent down a bit to kiss her boyfriend´s cheek to which he chuckled happily.

"So glad that someone finally appretiates us, Ms Sweetlong."said Wiseman appretiatively.

"Just Emily, please. Where do you think we are?"she asked as they moved across the corridor, which was now stopping revealing two ways to go.

"We seem to be underneath Beauvillage itself. Now which way to go...?"wondered Wiseman, looking from one side to the other.

"That´s a good question, brother. Which way?"asked Archie as he flashed his flashlight down the left side corridor.

"Hard to say. There are no sighns indicating the exit. Only these...symbols."said Wiseman flashing his flashlight at the right side, which had sighns carved into the walls.

"Perhaps they mean something."suggested Emily.

"Maybe they´re saying "if you´re lost, use the exit"."said Archie chuckling to himself.

"Hm... symbols or not, I´m unsure which path to take."said Wiseman, scratching his head.

"I got it! Let´s flip a coin to decide which path to take."boomed Archie as though it was the obvious choice.

"Incredible idea, little brother. My...since you´ve confessed your love you´re turning brighter and brighter."exclaimed Wiseman.

Archie´s face took on a deep red blush as he laughed sheepishly, while getting another kiss on the cheek from Emily. As Wiseman pulled out a coin however a small sound came from the right side.

"Did you hear that?"asked Wiseman looking at the two teens.

Suddenly the loud sound was heared again.

"There´s someone in there. Maybe our two brothers."exclaimed Archie happily.

"Or those four deliquents. Let´s go."nodded Wiseman as they took the right corridor.

As they moved across the long corridor they heared a different set of sounds, that mystified them all. It sounded like running water. It didn´t take them long to solve this mystery. As they moved further, they spotted a doorway on the left side of the corridor. Moving to it, the two brothers aimed their flashlights into the inky darkness. The space they saw was something like a cave and trough it flew...

"Wow. The river."breathed Emily looking from between Archie and Wiseman.

"It must be the Beauvillage River. I had no idea it flows underground too."noted Wiseman, looking curiously at the running river.

"It does. The river flows into a cave. We´ve been in the forest with Mr Weatherby. He said, that no one was brave enough to investigate the caves. He said that ghostly moaning can be heared if anyone approaches too closely."said Emily recounting the tale, their homeroom teacher told them when they were on a camping trip in the forests in Grade 5.

"Yeah. They say, that the caverns are haunted."said Archie shaking a bit.

"Hm...where does the river go to?"wondered Wiseman flashing his flashlight into the darkness in the far.

"The Beauvillage Lake. There it flows into from the caverns."answered Emily.

Suddenly another loud sound came from the corridor they were on, coming from the very end side of it.

"That sound again. Let´s go check it out."said Wiseman, but Archie trembled a bit.

"I´m not sure if that´s such a good idea, brother. You know... like last time."he said shakily.

"You mean the time, that you refused to tell me about? What happened?"asked Emily, her eyes slightly narrowing.

Archie looked at her uneasily, then at Wiseman.

"Brother, I know that the information falls under Rule 23 but may I please break it for my girlfriend?"he asked and Emily´s eyes it up with happiness.

Wiseman sized her up and down.

"In this case, I give you special permission. But Ms Swee... I mean Othilly, I must ask you to not to repeat it anywhere else."he said looking very serious.

"Thank you, brother. And it´s Emily."he said correcting him.

"Well Archie tell me what happened."asked Emily as the trio started to walk once more in the direction of the sound.

"A few nights ago we started the investigation into the Bunglewood case. We deduced that some crucial piece of evidence may still be in his house. So we went there at midnight. We looked around the house a bit until... we ran...into... a ghost."he recounted the tale, his hand gripping hers tightly.

Emily gasped.

"The ghost of Balthazar Bunglewood! Oh, Archie..."

She quickly grabbed him in a tight hug.

"My Archie...you have no idea how happy I am, that no harm has come to you."she said gripping him tightly – a gesture he happily returned.

"Yeah. But you see, we have to solve this case no matter what."

Emily´s eyebrow shot up.

"Why?"she asked as they walked up in order to catch up with Wiseman.

"You see, this case was already investigated by big brother Fred´s father and grandfather. Both of them failed. That´s why it holds great meaning to him."answered Archie as they chaught up.

"I understand. I´ll do whatever I can to help you."she said earnestly.

"Your help is very much appretiated, Othi...Emily."nodded Wiseman as they neared the end of the corridor, which held another doorway.

Suddenly another sound was heared from it, followed by a sad moan. The trio tensed. Wiseman reached into his overcoat and pulled out a gun. At the same time, Archie reached for his belt and pulled out a baton he got from Wiseman.

"Get behind us, Emmy. Ready, brother?"asked Archie looking at Wiseman, who nodded.

In a swift moment they burst into the room flashlights flashing wildly arond the spacy room.

"Freeze, Beauvillage Police!"exclaimed Wiseman flashing his flashlight with one hand, waving the gun with the other.

However it appeared that no one was there.

"What gives?"asked Archie impatiently as he looked around the room.

The spacy room´s walls were all filled with symbols, the floor held several circles all of which seemed to encircle the center of the room, where a large pole was and on it was tied a...

Emily screamed, Archie and Wiseman gasped. Tied to the pole was a skeleton of a grown man. The clothes were ripped by time, but the thinning white hair were still present on the skull as well as the thinned remains of what was once a large white beard. As they stood there rooted on the spot, the skeleton though unmoving gave out the sound they heared – a long suffering moan.

"GHOOOOST!"yelled all three before speeding at the top speed back into the corridor, away from what they just saw, screaming all the way.

...

"Ugh. I could´ve sworn I saw some light up ahead. Damn it, its so dark here I can´t see on the tip of my nose."swore Chloe as she slowly walked in the dark, her hands blindly holding up to the wall as she walked.

She tried with all her might to hold back her fear. But it was hard, she couldn´t see where she was going, had no idea where she might end up and the running water next to her wasn´t helping. She wondered exactly what happened that allowed her to end up in this situation. The last thing she remembered were the glowing statues, just like the other day in the park. Then a long fall and then... darkness. She wondered momentarily if somethind didn´t happen to her eyesight. But as she tried poking her eye, she quickly figured out, that it wasn´t the case. Then she thought, that maybe the fall killed her and she was dead. But the pain from the bumps and bruises fired down that theory as well. Then as she heared the running waters, she deduced that it was the Beauvillage River and that meant that somehow, she had no idea how – she ended inside the Beauvillage Caverns. Which logicly meant, that if she followed the river eighter way, she would reach light and the outside world. Keeping that in mind she walked, keeping her fear at bay, hoping she wouldn´t fall into the water. That would mean definite trouble. As soon as she said that, the wall came to a halt. Reaching with her hands, desperate for something she could touch only to grasp nothing but thin air. The only thing she was sure of, was the sound of running and by the sounds of it also falling water somewhere in the echoing cavern. As she reached once more, she moved away from the wall grasping blindly. Suddenly the earth from underneath her feet dissapeared. Losing all balance and with a terryfied scream she fell forward. Falling a few feet trough the air she landed straight in the water. As she surfaced, she flapped her hands around madly in pure panic. There was no bottom to stand on and the current was too strong. As the water was pulling her at frantic speed who knows where only one panicked thought rang trough her mind.

"_I´m... going to die..._"

...

"...and that´s the story."Chichi said, finishing recounting the entire Bunglewood investigation story to April who was in complete awe, as the pair exited the mineral stone cavern hand-in-hand, just so they don´t get lost – or so the excuse sounded.

"Wow... I had no idea you three were working on something so... grand."she breathed, her hand squeezing his.

"Yeah well... all that´s left is to regroup and hand the information to Chief Shark – he sounded as eager as we are in finishing the case."said Chichi as he flashed the flashlight around their surroundings spotting the river flowing trough the room.

"So that´s what those books were. Do you plan on sharing them with your parents and Buba?"she asked curiously.

"Are you mad? No way in hell. You know how they are?"he retorted, looking at April in panic.

"Why not? They´re well meaning, not like that Ezekiel person."she replied firmly.

Chichi however shook his head.

"But they tend to go overboard, April. And as Balthazar in Phil´s dream rightly said, Green Magic is no plaything. I don´t want them making a mistake and paying the price like Ripgrab did."he said turning to her and once more grabbing her shoulders with his hands.

"April, please swear to me two things. That you won´t tell them about Green Magic – this is a Hidehole-level secret. And second, that you´ll always think troughoutly before attempting some healing spell. I... I care for you too much, to see anything bad happening to you, April."he said in a urgent voice full of emotion.

April´s eyes filled with tears and she swiftly embraced him.

"Chichi... I... I promise. I´ll do it for you."she said tearfully as she once more snuggled into his shoulder.

Chichi smiled gently as they held eachother, happy that he has her word among other things. Tentactively he placed his head on her shoulder and felt her sigh in contentment. They stayed like that for a while, before Chichi spotted something...

"Daylight."he breathed, getting her attention.

"We found a way out."exclaimed April as both of them looked on the far side of the caverns.

Sharing a look they nodded and made their way towards the light. Moments later, they were at the exit from the caverns. Chichi turned off the flashlight as both of them adjusted their eyesight and looked over the edge of the cavern opening, next to them the river was flowing downways in a beautyfull little waterfall flowing into...

"The Beauvillage Lake! Look! There´s the island... and Balthazar´s house."exclaimed Chichi pointing to the spot over the waters of the lake just as the sun was slowly but surely setting.

Besides him, April sighed.

"What a romantic setting."she breathed.

Chichi chuckled despite himself.

"Now you sound like Lily."he commented smilingly, looking at her affectionately.

As April looked back at him, there was something about Chichi in that glow that made him look angelic. Slowly, shyly she moved her face closer to his and thistime he didn´t object, merely kept a curious almost unknowing look on his face. Her face was milimeters from his, she could feel his breath on her face. Her heart was beating like mad, she closed her eyes dreamingly as her lips were about to connect with his.

"HEEEELP!"sounded from behind them.

Both of them instantly spun their heads back into the darkness. A few more screams of help along with numerous frantic splashes sounded before the person was swept past them and was washed down by the waterfall into the lake. Chichi and April swiftly turned to the direction the person fell, as a head surfaced in the waters of the lake.

"HELP! SOMEBODY PLEASE HELP ME!"screamed the person, splashing their arms wildly.

"CHLOE!"exclaimed April as Chichi gasped.

"CHICHI, SHE CAN´T SWIM!"she screamed urgently as Chichi´s head snapped to her.

Chichi wasted not a moment. He swiftly reached into his pouch and pulled out the rope and hook he used at the Morter household. Turning back towards the lake, they saw that Chloe´s head already dissapeared beneath the surface. April gasped in horror. Chichi quickly pressed the two objects into her hands and in a single motion jumped from the opening. Flying the two meter distance he crashed into the water and instantly started to swim underneath it, searching for Chloe. He saw that she was falling to the bottom. Quickly swiming to her, he grabbed her beneath her arms and with all his might kicked his legs, pulling them upward. Breaking the surface, he gasped for air keeping a firm hold on Chloe who coughed and sputtered violently. Up from the cavern opening he heared April erupt into a cheer, which was informed as much by happiness as relief.

"It´s OK, Chloe. I got you."he said as Chloe coughed up some of the water.

Looking around and finally catching her breath, she threw her arms around his neck and burst into tears. Chichi placed one of his hands around her, while still using his other one to keep them afloat.

"Shhh... Chloe...it´s all right...shhh."he whispered gently, trying to calm her down as best he could, his hand running up and down on her back underwater.

"That...that...was so scary... I... I thought I was going to die...oh, Chichi..."she said between her sobs as he continued to console her.

It took a moment, but he felt her finally calming down. Turning his head upwards, he called to April.

"April, hook the rope to a stone there and throw us the rope, so we can climb back up."

April nodded. Wiping her tears, she tied the rope to the hook, hoked it to a large stone nearby and threw down the long thin rope. In the meantime, Chichi was swimming to the wall of the cavern, Chloe still holding on to his neck.

"Y...you saved me... I owe you my life, Chichi."she said weakly.

"A life is never owed, when saved out of friendship."said Chichi in a firm, sage-like voice.

Chloe´s mouth curved upward in a smile.

"You´re an incredible friend, Chichi. I´ve only recently realized how much."she confessed as they reached the wall.

Reaching for the dropped rope, Chichi chuckled to himself.

"And to think that I was angry, that Home-fix-it didn´t have a shorter rope than three meters."

Chloe giggled as well as Chichi let her grab the rope and allow her to climb up first.

As soon as Chloe climbed back up, she found herself wrapped in a warm bear-hug by April.

"Chloe, I´m so glad that you´re all right."whispered April, her eyes full of happy tears.

"I´m happy too, April. Though I wouldn´t be if it wasn´t for Chichi."she replied happily, her eyes also sporting tears.

"That´s my Chichi honey-bun. A true hero."commented April, immensly proud of him.

"I heared _that_. I think you´re exagerating, April."grumbled Chichi as he climbed back up.

"I beg to differ, Chichi. I´m a _living_ proof of that, you know."noted Chloe looking at her saviour with newfound respect and affection.

Chichi blushed a deep red and busied himself by untying the rope, rolling it up and placing it back into his pouch. As he did so, he fingered a thing he completly forgot about – the walkie-talkie.

"Well we still have to find the others too. But I have no idea how to do that in that underground maze."said April, her eyes tracking the inky darkness within.

"Well _I_ do."said Chichi, his blue eyes sparkling.

The two girls looked at him as he raised the walkie-talkie to his mouth.

"_Yellow serpent_, _Green monkey_ come in... this is _Black leader_, over."

...

"Ugh, does this place have NO exit?!"exclaimed Nick in exaspirtaion as the two walked down the corridor for what seemed like half an hour.

"It HAS to have one. If we got in we also have to be able to get out."analyzed Tex as he looked at the walls even as he walked.

They moved a bit more, until they saw a doorway ahead. Looking into it they found...

"NOT AGAIN, DAMN IT!"exclaimed Nick for before them was...

"Another corridor! But this one has two ways to go."noted Tex as he flashed his flashlight both ways.

As both boys moved around it, trying to decide which way to go they flashed their flashlights up and down at random places of the corridors.

"AAAAH! Who´s that?!"exclaimed Tex, jumping back but losing his balance and falling on his backside.

Nick turned and swiftly pulled out his baton, ready for a fight. Flashing his flashlight at the place where Tex was looking, he saw that there was someone indeed there. Close to the wall, near them. Moving closer, he rushed forward and hit the person on the head with the baton. The instant he felt a powerfull force of the impact rebounding into his arm and it sent him to the ground next to Tex.

"Ouch! Who the hell is that?! He has one hell of a hard-head."asked Nick, his arm still shaking and numbed.

Tex directed his flashlight to the person, who didn´t move one inch.

"Hey! It´s a statue!"exclaimed Tex catching Nick´s attention.

Indeed it was. A life-sized statue of some bearded sage-like man, not unlike the ones they saw in the history books. They came closer to inspect it.

"Wow. It looks like it was here for hundreds of years."breathed Tex.

Nick snorted.

"And what makes you say that?"

Tex pointed to something on the bottom of the statue, Nick knelt down next to his brother to see what he was pointing at.

"Moss. Plus it really looks ancient. Like the stuff in the museum we saw a few months ago."reasoned Tex.

Snorting again, Nick got up and turned to the side of the corridor.

"Whatever. Right now, let´s go that way."he said pointing up ahead.

The pair walked a few seconds before they heared sounds coming from the corridor. Freezing on the spot, both of them turned off their flashlights.

"W...who d´you think it is?"asked Tex shakily.

"Who cares? Let´s surprise them."grumbled Nick menagicngly gripping his baton, Tex bringing out his.

Both of them waited for just a few seconds in the dark as the sounds and the light grew nearer. Standing carefully on the sides of the walls, the pair prepared and as the figures came into reach...

BOOM! POW!

"OW!"

"OUUUCH!"

"ARCHIE! ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?!"

The two realizing just who did they hit, lit up their flashlights only to find their two brothers, kneeling on the ground gripping their aching heads.

"Oops. Sorry."said Tex in apology, looking at the poor pair.

Emily was at Archie´s side in an instant, embracing him in an dealdy grip as he snuggled into her in pain.

"What the hell did you do THAT for?!"screeched Emily, glaring at the two still cradling her boyfriend in her arms.

"We didn´t know it was you coming."said Nick, defending himself but quickly hiding the baton behind his back.

"Nevermind. At least I know, that you two have a decent hit. It seems like giving you the batons wasn´t such a bad idea."commented Wiseman as he got up from the ground.

"We thought, that whatever is in here is going to attack us, so naturally we had to defend ourselfs."said Nick to both Wiseman and Archie, as though that explained everything.

Suddenly another set of sounds were coming from the nearby archway. All of them froze again as a few distinct laughs were heared, but no light was seen.

"It...it´s that ghost again."said Archie shakily, trembling along with Emily.

The three remaining brothers were shaking too. Wiseman´s face however took on a look of resolve as he pulled out his baton.

"Not this time... flashlights off everyone. Prepare to whack the ghost!"he commanded and the three immdeiatly gained their courage again.

"I´m not sure that its such a good idea, guys."said Emily as soon as Archie distangled himself from her embrace and pulled out his baton, Nick and Tex already holding theirs.

"Its okay, Emmy. No way in hell I´m letting some ghost get you."said Archie in a soothing voice getting in front of her.

Emily nodded just as the flashlights were turned out. She gripped his hand as complete darkness reigned around them. All of them strained their ears and tried with all their might to hear the sounds coming towards them. All of a sudden however the sounds ceased, leaving all of them confused. Their dread was increacing by the second as nothing was seen nor heared. Suddenly a flashlight lit up in the darkness revealing a face, smiling like a maniac.

"WASSUUUUUUUUP!"

"AAAAAAAAGHHH!"screamed all of them in terror as they fell on their backsides, their resolve crumbling into pieces and batons falling to the ground before them.

Archie swiftly jumped back into Emily´s arms, both of them shaking in their embrace on the ground. Tex swiftly grabbed whatever he could in fright, whimpering as a booming laughter rang trough the corridor and more flashlights lit up.

"That was awesome."said a voice, still chortling in laughter.

"That joke never gets old."chortled another voice – the voice that scared the living daylights out of them.

"Oh, you two."giggled a third voice – a girl´s voice.

At this Nick lit up his flashlight to reveal the forms of Miles, Phil and Lily. At the same time their flashlights were aimed to reveal Archie and Emily girpping eachother in a vicegrip and Nick who was being gripped by both Tex and Wiseman.

"MILES!"exclaimed Wiseman in anger, letting go of Nick as Miles laughed again.

"Too bad I didn´t have a camera for this. That would´ve made a nice picture on the internet."he chortled to himself again.

"I SHOULD ARREST YOU FOR THAT!"yelled Wiseman pointing with his finger.

"YEAH!"Nick and Tex joined in, glaring the trio angerly.

"Oh cool it, Wisey. What counts is that we found eachother."said Miles, shaking his free hand completly unafraid of their obvious rage.

"WASSUUUUP!"boomed a new voice, coming out another archway.

All of them turned towards the source as the three figures moved trough the archway towards them.

"CHICHI!"boomed Phil and Lily in obvious happiness.

"APRIL, CHLOE!"exclaimed Emily as she ran up to the three of them.

"See, Wisey? He appretiates a good joke."said Miles, as Chichi came up to him and fist-bumped with him.

Emily swiftly embraced the two girls – more out of relief than anything else.

"Chloe, you´re all wet!"she exclaimed as she let go of them.

"Just fell into some water, that´s all."Chloe explained shaking her shoulders.

"I was afraid, that something might´ve happened to you."said Emily looking at them.

"We were with Chichi. Nothing can happen to us with him around."said April as though that explained everything.

"Exaggerating again."called Chichi from Miles´ side, his cheeks reddening again.

"NOT!"called Chloe, smiling gently at her new hero.

That didn´t go unnoticed by Lily, who could recodnize things like these a mile away. A sly look came upon her as she turned to Chichi.

"Hm...Chichi... what were the three of you doing all alone in the dark? You must´ve done _something_ to get such affections from both of them."she teased.

"J...just drop it, Lily."said Chichi, turning redder by the second.

"Awww... he´s blushing, he´s blushing."said Miles, joining in the tease.

"Woah. A few seconds more and we can use your face as a flashlight."chortled Phil, also joining in the tease.

"Too much."grumbled Chichi, slapping a hand on his forehead, not able to blush more, just as Chloe, Lily and April giggled.

"He´s soooo adorable when he does that."said April to Chloe, who nodded smilingly.

"Anyway, how in the hell were you able to find us?"grumbled Nick.

Happy at the change of subject, Chichi pulled out his walkie-talkie along with Miles.

"Why didn´t _we_ think of that?!"exclaimed Archie staring at them dumbly.

"I think I´m adding a new rule after we get out of here."grumbled Wiseman, shaking his head.

"Plus, you guys make enough noise to wake the dead."added Chichi as he and Miles placed the walkie-talkies in their pockets.

The comment however had a unexpected effect on the brotherhood and Emily. All of them began to shake uncontrollably.

"Please don´t say it like that, Chichi."said Emily shakily.

"What d´you mean, Emmy?"asked April curiously.

"There... there´s a ghost down here."she replied, pointing to the far end of the corridor.

"On the right side of that corridor there´s a room. There tied to the pole is a... a... skeleton."said Archie, shaking like mad.

April and Chloe shook also, Miles´ face took on a look of curiosity but the faces of Phil, Lily and Chichi took on haunted looks as the silence in the corridor dragged on.

"You were right, Chichi..."said Phil quietly.

"Balthazar..."breathed Lily.

"The final piece of the puzzle..."mumbled Chichi.

"What are you three talking about?"asked Wiseman, narrowing his eyes at them.

The trio however took no notice of the question as their faces took on a determined look.

"We have to go check it out."said Phil, looking at Lily who nodded.

"WHAT?"

"ARE YOU NUTS?!"

"WHY WOULD YOU DO SUCH A THING?!"

"_Because_, the easiest way out of the catacombs is probably trough that room."said Chichi stopping the stream of questions from the brotherhood and the girls.

Phil and Lily were as surprised about this as the others were, nevertheless they nodded to eachother – Chichi was right about everything so far.

"The three of us will go check it out. You guys wait here."said Chichi in an authoritative voice.

"I´ll come along."said Miles, curious about it – Phil and Lily explained everything to him and he wanted to see it himself.

As they turned towards the corridor, April swiftly grabbed Chichi by the hand.

"Chichi please don´t. What if the ghost...gets you?"she said, scared for him.

Chichi smiled gently and reached for his walkie-talkie. Letting go of her hand, he pressed the walkie into it instead.

"Don´t worry, April. There´s nothing to be afraid of. Trust me."he said soothingly.

It seemed to have the intended effect, for April was calming down. Nodding she gripped the walkie and said.

"I trust you, but please Chichi... be carefull."

Nodding Chichi set out after Phil, Lily and Miles. A small silence endured as the foursome dissapeared out of sight.

"We can´t let them go just like that. What if they discover some clue?"grumbled Nick.

"Oh no! You´re right, brother Nick! I almost forgot! The Bunglewood case! The evidence may as well be in that room!"exclaimed Wiseman, suddenly realizing it.

"And they´re investigating it too!"boomed Archie.

"What if they solve it instead of us?!"asked Tex, slapping a hand to his forehead.

"WE CAN´T LET THAT HAPPEN!"boomed Wiseman, resolve fresh in his face.

"Let´s follow them!"exclaimed Archie, pointing to the end of the corridor.

"Archie no! You´ve seen that ghost!"said Emily, gripping his hand much like April gripped Chichi´s a few moments ago.

"Its gonna be all right, Emmy. If they´re there we have to follow. You know the importance of this case."he said looking her in the eyes.

Biting her lip slightly, she nodded. Archie closed the distance between them, standing on his tip-toes he swiftly delivered a loving kiss to his girlfriend.

"I love you, Emmy. But right now, there´s a case to be solved."

...

"Wow. This was it."breathed Lily, taking in the spacy room, looking around it, noticing many Sucelli symbols carved into the walls.

"Poor Balthazar."said Phil sadly as he and Chichi were checking over what was left of him, their curiosity completly blocking out any fear they could have.

Flashing the flashlight at the remains, Chichi noticed something long poking from between the skeleton´s ribs. Pulling it out they saw that it was a dagger. Shining some light onto it, they noticed the dried blood on the entire blade. The handle was however made out of beautyfully carved mahogany wood. There was no doubt, that the dagger would be in its original state once a little cleaned up.

"Well cause of death confirmed."said Chichi sadly, once more looking the skeleton in the face.

"YO guys. Look what I found."called Miles from one of the sides of the wall next to one of the numerous torches.

The trio turned their heads to him as he came up closer. In his hand there was a necklace. Though differently styled as the necklace around Lily´s neck – more... well... _manly_, lacking some of the crafstmanship and details Balthazar put into all his works, but still a wonderfull piece nevertheless. Chichi swiftly took it and examined it in the light.

"This wasn´t made by Balthazar. Its not styled the same way as your necklace."he said looking at Lily and Phil.

Examining it more, he noticed that there was also a different gemstone on it – a yellow one.

"This must be the necklace Balthazar´s last diary entery mentioned."

As the foursome kept examining their find, they were unaware that they were being watched.

At the enterance, peeking from the other room carefully concealed in the darkness was the brotherhood.

"What do you think thay found?"asked Archie in a whisper.

"Who knows. We´d better put a stop to it before they actually solve this case."answered Wiseman.

"_I´m afraid you´re a bit too late for that._"came a voice behind them – a voice none of them recodnized.

The brotherhood slowly, fearfully turned their heads backwards to see who said that...

"This looks like it was the exit. But its blocked."said Phil flashing his flashlight at the closed archway.

"AAAAAAAAAGH!"

The horrifying scream caused all four of them to turn their heads towards the second archway. Backing from the corridor was the brotherhood. For a second they were staring at something, before all four of them fainted on the spot.

"_Chichi, are you all right? What was that scream?_"sounded April´s fearfull voice over the walkie-talkie.

Grabbing it from Phil, he answered.

"We´re all fine, April. Its just the brotherhood freaking out as ussual."he said as Phil and Lily bent over the _fearless_ foursome.

"They must´ve followed us, trying to figure out what we´re up to."noted Lily as Phil was checking them over.

"Yup. Out cold. Wonder what happened."

Phil´s musing was interupted by a gentle chuckle coming from the black corridor.

"_Scare easily, don´t they?_"said a voice as the figure was slowly coming into the light.

Phil, Lily, Chichi and Miles held their breaths as a tall white-bearded man came into view, smiling at them.

"Balthazar Bunglewood?"asked Chichi almost unable to believe it.

Still smiling, the man nodded.

"YO, I´m Miles. Pleased to meet you, old man."boomed Miles happily, not really knowing who this old man was.

As he made to touch his hand in a handshake, he breathed – for his hand went cleanly trough the old man, touching only thin air.

"_Pleased to meet you too, young one. Unfortunatly I am no longer in the state to shake your hand, or anyone else´s for that matter._"said Balthazar in a pleasant voice, which sounded like a faraway echo.

"WOW! A real _live_ ghost."said Miles completly unafraid, yet stunned beyond belief.

Balthazar chuckled to himself as he turned to the three young teens.

"_I am astounded, that you actually found this place. And my body. Matilda was right, you kids are truly smart._"he said smiling warmly at the trio.

"Thanks. But after finding the diary, everything was a snap. I´m astounded that no one really looked it over. I mean it was in your room in plain sight."said Chichi shaking his head, ignoring for the moment the fact, that he was conversing with a ghost.

"_And you found the key._"said Balthazar with a knowing smile – knowing exactly where they got it from.

"And the Chest of secrets."piped up Phil happily.

"Then there is nothing left to do. Once you hand the documents over to the police, everything will be over."said Balthazar nodding.

"Do you think, that Mr and Mrs Morter were also responsible for this?"asked Lily.

Balthazar shook his head.

"_No, little wild-flower. The blame lies with Evan and him alone._"

"So he did try the _Mutare Vita_. And failed, paying the price."said Chichi, reasoning.

Balthazar let out his breath in a sigh and nodded.

"_I watched on the square as the effect took hold of him. In those last moments as the magic was ravaging his body, he saw me while no one else did. I said, that I warned him as he performed the ritual, drawing my blood for it. The ritual failed and turned upon him. You see, he stole those things from the museum, determined to create a beast, which would hatch out of the fossilized egg and let it loose on Luther, Philip, Johnatan, Matilda and any who opposed him. Undoubtably Zeke knew he would mess it up and kill himself, taking me along with him as a sacrifice._"

The foursome were completly awed by what they heared – Chichi´s theory confirmed by the very victim of the crime.

"And Zeke? Where did he dissapear to?"asked Chichi curiously.

"_France I expect. Perhaps he went back to check those accursed ruins. Perhaps he wanted to start up the Sucellus cult once more. Who knows anymore._"

They all nodded. However Chichi remembered something about the chest from the diary.

"There´s more in that chest than just the evidence. What else is there?"he asked.

Balthazar smiled.

"_The greatest treasure of the cult – the secret book passed down trough the generations. You can have it, since some of you already started using Green Magic. But as I warned in your dream Philip, be very carefull when using it – its no plaything. Remember always to pay the price._"

The teens nodded.

"_There are also a few gemstones I collected across the country. You can use them to make your own necklaces, I believe your girlfriend will need one too._"said Balthazar winking at Chichi, who turned beet-red in a second.

"First my family, then friends and now the _ghost _too? _Too much_."mumbled Chichi, griping his head in embaressment as the rest of them laughed.

"Wait a minute... April was using Green Magic?"exclaimed Lily, looking at Chichi who nodded.

"She smuggled one of the books out of my room and actually learnt some healing spells. She used it on me as we fell and I cut open my leg."he said, pointing to his ripped overalls, where his leg was visible, but no trace of the wound was there.

"_Very gifted girl. It took me several years to master my first healing spell._"said Balthazar musingly.

Phil, Lily and Miles grinned slyly at Chichi, who started to turn red again.

"_Still, children... you must remember not to use Green Magic lightly. Only as a last resort._"

Their attention once more on him, all of them nodded.

"_All that´s left is to say...thank you... from the bottom of my heart. Now I can finally rest in peace._"

All four of them smiled their most warm smiles and grins, rejoicing for the old man.

"Our pleasure, Balthazar. It was our pleasure."said Lily happily.

"In return you can do something for me."said Miles, suddenly getting an idea.

All of them fixed their sights on him, as Miles was rubbing his chin.

"I always wanted to know one thing and maybe you´ll know the answer..."he said musingly.

Chichi, Phil and Lily held their breaths wondering what on Earth could Miles want to know so badly, to seek an answer from a ghost.

"Is there money in heaven?"

The question hung for merely a moment, before Phil, Lily, Chichi and even Balthazar exploded in laughter.

"What? They never mention that in the Bible."said Miles in a chlidish voice.

"_I´m afraid I don´t know... I have been earthbound for 20 years afterall._"answered Balthazar still chortling.

"Aww, shucks."said Miles snapping his fingers.

"_There IS however one thing I would like you to do for me, before I take my leave for the afterlife._"said Balthazar.

"Anything."breathed Lily, her eyes slightly watering.

"_Can you give a message from me to Matilda? Tell her, that I love her and will be waiting for her. But tell her please not to come soon. We always joked about living up to 100. Since I couldn´t live up to the task, she should. Just like the old turtle, she already is._"he said, his voice taking a mischevous tone at the end.

"Of course, Balthazar. We´ll be sure to tell her."nodded Lily, tears now running her cheeks.

Balthazar smiled as Phil took hold of her hand in a calming gesture.

"_Perhaps these two are not so different from us._"he mused to himself.

Suddenly he felt a strange pull. A call of home – a summoning.

"_Come, Balthazar. They´re calling you. Its time._"said another voice from behind them.

They all turned to see another man, standing behind them smiling. Phil and Lily both gasped, tears welling up in Phil´s eyes.

"G...Grandpa?"he asked in a strangled voice.

The shorter older man indeed looked much like Phil. His face however was now healthier, than it been when last he saw his little grandson.

"_You´ve done a great thing, Phil, Lily... all of you. I´m pleased to see how well you´ve grown up and the incredible friends you´ve made._"he said nodding appretiatively as he approached.

Phil made a gesture to embrace him, only to run his hands trough thin air.

"_Don´t worry, Phil. We will see eachother again one day. I only hope that the day won´t come for many and many years. Lily, be sure to look after him._"said Philip Conners, winking at Lily, who nodded and embraced Phil from behind.

"I will, Mr Conners. I promise."she said smilingly.

Nodding smilingly, Philip turned to Balthazar.

"_Come on, you old wacko. They are all waiting for you._"he said as he put his hand around his shoulder and the two started walking at a calm pace.

"_Take care, children. And thank you._"said Balthazar in a happy and relieved voice over his shoulder, looking at them one more time.

"_Yeah. See ya, kids. _Later_ rather then sooner._"said Philip smilingly.

Walking a few steps into the dark corridor the two dissapeared leaving a very distinguishable feeling in the air. Phil turned in Lily´s embrace and took a while to calm down feeling strangely at home in her arms. Suddenly he realized something.

"Oh no! We didn´t ask Balthazar about a way out!"he exclaimed, gaining Lily and Miles´ looks as they realized it too.

"We didn´t need to, Phil. Lily give me the key."said Chichi grinningly, holding out his hand.

Lily gave him the key and Chichi moved across the room towards the barracated doorway. Looking at the symbol - which was the same as the crystal key, he raised his hand, the key between his fingers and said...

"OPEN"

The crystal key started to shine. As did the symbol on the wall. In an instant, the wall blocking the way out started to rise, exposing a way out.

"WE DID IT!"screamed the foursome together, rejoicing each in their own way.

Chichi jumping up and down, Miles punching the air with both his hands, Phil and Lily still in their embrace doing a kind of happy dance.

"Right, let´s go get the girls and get out of here. We still have to give the evidence to Shark."said Chichi utterly animated now.

"And then... case solved."nodded Phil, now out of Lily´s embrace as he fist-bumped with Chichi and Miles.

Lily however was looking at the still unconcious brotherhood on the ground.

"A thought just came to me. We solved the Bunglewood case."she started to say sadly.

"Yeah, doing what now three generations of Wisemen weren´ t able to do."nodded Phil happily, proud of this achievement.

"That´s the point. Remember what the mayor told us about Wiseman´s family? This would make them acknowledge him. And we took that chance away from him."

Phil and Chichi looked at eachother – she was right.

"Wisey´s family, huh? Yeah they´re tough cases. They utterly hate him from what I´ve seen. And now that this is solved its only bound to increase. They´ll cast him out completly."nodded Miles folding his arms.

"We can´t let that happen."boomed Lily, now terryfied.

"You´re right, Lily."nodded Chichi also looking over the brotherhood.

"I can´t believe we´re about to save Wiseman and his brotherhood. But I agree too. That´d be just too cruel."nodded Phil.

All of them looked at Miles.

"I´m in too. I mean I know the guy since our school days. And while I´m no fan of him, I never hated him or anything. But we have to make this appear as though the dumbasses actually solved the thing."

A moment of silence endured, then Chichi smiled already knowing what was needed to be done.

"Okay, I got it. _Operation Saviour_... listen..."he said gesturing for them to form a circle.

They did so, each grabbing the next by their shoulders as they pressed their heads together and Chichi went over the plan in whisper.

"First Miles, you go for the girls and bring them here. Wait for us here. In the meantime the three of us go topside and here´s what we do..."

...


	16. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

Archie slowly opened his eyes, unsure what was happening. The first thing he saw were Emily´s beetle-black eyes, which were looking at him affectionately.

"Emmy...? What happened?"he asked groggily as he realized, that he was lying on the ground, his head laid on Emily´s lap, her fingers buried deep in his long hair.

"You did it, my little hero. You and the brotherhood did it."she whispered as she delivered a sweet kiss on his lips – one he happily returned.

As they got up from the ground, Emily gave him back his cap and as he placed it on his head he saw, the reinforcements that arrived – lots of policemen, including Oliver´s elder brother, Mayor Haveitall and even detective chief Shark, both of whom were now speaking with Wiseman.

"I can´t thank you enough, Detective Wiseman. You have found my long lost friend and helped uncover the mystery behind his murder."said the mayor, before winking discreetly at Chichi who was standing behind him, a happy grin on his face.

"I am astounded, Frederick. Perhaps I was wrong to think you hadn´t the talent for it. A job well done."nodded chief Sharkerly.

"I could never have done it without my trusty brotherhood. The case went on so simply, we have no idea how we solved it."said Wiseman happily looking at Tex and Nick.

"Ain´t that the truth."whispered Phil to Lily, who giggled.

"You three must be amazing aids."said Shark in surprise, looking at the teenage trio.

"We do our best, sir."nodded Nick, smiling at him.

As the policemen were asking things from Chloe and April, handing Chloe the blanket Chichi refused moments ago, Miles was looking around the now reflector-lit room.

"Well, so much for lost treasure."he noted sadly.

"I think we found something more precious."noted Chichi, as he came up to him and flashed a smile at the two girls.

"Yeah. But I think we may live to regret our little decidion, Chich."said Miles looking directly at the brotherhood, who were now on the recieving end of many admirable looks and praises.

"We did the right thing though."piped up Phil who came closer along with Lily.

"You said it, Phil. Now that everything is over and done with, we have no reason to hang around this place."nodded Lily as they watched Balthazar´s remains being carefully placed into a coffin the mayor insisted on bringing the moment Chichi informed him of the find.

"I agree. Let´s go home."said April who came to them along with Chloe.

Chloe snuggling into the blanket flashed Chichi another radiant smile, as Chichi nodded to the others and all of them went trough the exit.

"I was astounded, that the enterance is right near the place where we found the treasure 3 years back."said Phil shaking his head.

Chichi grinned.

"I expected as much. Ripgrab must´ve left it at the enterance, hoping the egg would hatch his creation."

"But it only hatched into an ostrich."noted Phil still chuckling at the memory.

"Somehow I can´t shake the feeling that Balthazar somehow ensured, that whatever would hatch from the egg would be harmless."said Chichi frowning to himself.

"Detective-mode again."whispered Lily to Chloe and April, who giggled.

"In any case we should go home now. You and Chloe should get those wet clothes off before you guys catch a cold."noted Miles as they came out of Beauvillage´s forest.

"Oh, I´m confident I´d... _heal up_."said Chichi, winking at April who instantly returned a shy blush.

"Me and Lily still have Mrs Longline to visit."said Phil, gesturing to Lily who nodded.

"However, let´s meet up at our house later on."said Chichi drawing all attention to himself.

All eyes were glued on him as he grinned his infamous tenthousand-watt grin.

"There´s still _one_ mystery left to solve."

...

"There. That´s the last adjustment."said Pop proudly as he finished his work on the new prototype alarm.

"You really think it´ll work now, Jake?"asked Titus looking at the mechanical arms in apprehention, remembering all too well the last encounter.

"Positive, Titus. We just have to charge it up with my pedal generator and its good to go."

Still a bit unconvinced but eager, Titus watched Pop get on the bike generator and start pumping, the animals also watching curiously as nightime was slowly descending upon Beauvillage. Both adults were completly unaware of the conversation going on just mere meters behind them at the table.

"_Unbelievable_..."breathed Billy, looking at the two gemstone necklaces on the table.

"I had my suspitions about you three going over Bunglewood´s case, but I never expected it to turn out like this. Not to mention, that the Green Sorcery _actually_ works."said Lola shaking her head, almost unable to believe the tale her best friend, her brother and his best friend finished telling them.

Phil and Lily, who mere moments ago returned from the visit of Mrs Longline wasted no time in going over the entire story.

"Yeah well... we did it. Mostly thanks to your baby brother´s incredible deductions."said Lily in a happy voice, grabbing Chichi by the shoulders and pressing her to him as if to make her point.

"Oh, brother."said Lola rolling her eyes as Chichi grinned happily.

"Well looks like you three had an incredible adventure. You did learn a lot. Not to mention those _Dragon Lord_ action figures you found. I´m really envious of that you know."Billy´s voice was now betraying a small note of jealousy, him being an old _Dragon Lord_ fan since childhood.

"We´re willing to share."said Chichi earnestly.

"You...you are?"asked Billy almost not daring to believe it.

"Sure. But Lily already has Tinitus, we have the rest of them in the Hidehole."nodded Phil.

"But let´s be clear about one thing – _Grand Duki_ and the _Spirit of Fire_ are **totally** off limits."said Chichi in a serious voice and Lola once more rolled her eyes.

Billy however was shocked. His jaw dropped.

"Y...you have... _those two_ as well?"

Lily, Chichi and Phil were now sporting extremly triumphant smiles before nodding as one. Billy placed a hand on his forehead.

"Scratch unbelievable. This is a _miracle_."he breathed in an awe-struck voice.

Lola sighed to herself. Much like the Gzorbials, she was definitelly no fan of Dragon Lord.

"WASSUUUUP!"sounded behind them.

Billy and Lola jumped, but the three remaining teens grinned.

"MILES! How many times I´ve told you NOT TO DO THAT?!"roared Lola, glaring the newcomers – or rather _one_ in paticular.

"Aww lighten up, Lola. I have to let you know I´m here, don´t I?"asked Miles innocently as he, April, Chloe and Emily came and sat at the table.

"How about doing it _quietly_?!"she said trough gritted teeth.

"I´m kinda surprised that you came along too, Emily."noted Chichi as he looked at the three girls.

"My date with Archie was postponed. Brotherhood business."said Emily idly.

"How are they faring?"asked Lily.

"They´re being pestered by reporters already. They´re already trying to get all information available."explained Chloe smilingly, shaking her head.

"Figures. This is a huge hit. Afterall this was unsolved for 20 years."commented Phil nodding to himself.

"Plus they´re asking all they can about Balthazar Bunglewood. The mayor is reluctant to share much information. Angie explained, that he wants Balthazar to remain a man of mystery. Luckily there´s no mystery _you _can´t solve, Chichi honey-bun."said April, smiling at Chichi, who blushed.

"Exaggerating again."he murmured as everyone else exchanged chuckles and giggles.

"I really want to thank you guys."said Emily looking at Chichi, Miles, Phil and Lily.

"What on Earth for?"asked Chichi in surprise.

Emily giggled slightly before focusing her stare on him.

"I´m not my boyfriend, you know. I know very well that it was you guys, who _really_ solved the case and left it to the brotherhood, so that they get the praise rather than the shame – which would´ve undoubtably torn them apart. Looking out for Archie´s well-being – I know _exactly_ what the brotherhood means to him. You protected that. It was the kindest thing I ever saw someone doing."

Lily smiled gently, Miles laughed sheepishly whereas Phil and Chichi scratched their heads awkwardly.

"It was the right thing to do, Emily."murmured Phil.

"But I´m not sure, that hanging around with the brotherhood is looking out for Archie´s well-being."said Chichi quietly.

"They´re not _that_ bad, you know."smiled Emily, eying the two boys in appretiation, knowing the history of the boys in her class and their numerous run-ins and fights.

"There´s one thing that mystifies me though. Why on earth did you guys start to investigate the Bunglewood case in the first place?"wondered Lola.

Chichi grinned and got up from his seat facing the table, all eyes glued on him.

"Perfect question, sis. But we´ll come to that in a moment. First of all, let´s adress the reason you three are here..."he started gesturing to Chloe, April and Emily.

"...the novel that Chloe discovered."

Lily´s eyes brightened as she turned towards Chloe.

"You found a novel? What´s it about? Is it good? Can I read it?"she asked.

Phil gave a small chuckle.

"Bookworm."he muttered under his breath, but Lily who was sitting right next to him turned to him and promtly gave him a gentle smack.

"I heared _that_, game-freak."she countered smilingly as the others shared a small laugh.

Chichi cleared his throat, getting everyone´s attention once more.

Coming towards Miles, he extended his right hand.

"Miles."he said nonchalantly and Miles instantly started to reach behind his belt grinning.

The others briefly wondered what was about to happen as Miles pulled out a detective – Sherlock Holmes kind of hat, which Chichi promtly placed on the top of his head. A moment of silence endured before the table exploded in laughter.

"Oh, brother."giggled Lola as Billy smiled good-naturedly.

"Detective-mode."noted Lily happily.

"You said it. Thumbs up, Chichi."piped up Phil.

"But it looks cool."commented Chloe giving Chichi a thumbs up.

"And how."breathed April in a lovesick sigh as Chichi began to pace back and forward, like a real detective would.

"Now, the novel. It was recent judging by the handwriting and content. Also by the paper. Let´s use this as a starting point. As most of the school was chaught up in reading it and it was gaining in popularity, the author didn´t do a thing about it. This offers two possible explanations – eighter the author didn´t wish to reveal himself or he had no idea that the novel was missing. The latter seems to be closer to the truth. I´m convinced that this has a specific reason – the author´s attention was on completly something else. This also means that the novel is complete, though we don´t have its complete version."

The others were now listening, hanging on every word "Detective" Chichi said.

"There were a few suspects, but I ruled them out knowing their character. For instance, Lola and Billy don´t fit the bill. Miles and Phil don´t eighter, since Phil was with us most of the time and later on helped in the search. Miles – the same reason. But Phil later on gave me a clue on the handwriting. It was familiar to him, though he wasn´t able to tell who... I´m certain that two other people would recodnize it instantly, but let´s move on..."he said as he took a few good paces, enjoying keeping everyone´s attention as they awaited to hear just _who_ wrote the novel.

"I´ve read it as you know and instantly found out a few things about the author´s character. He´s a poetic soul, very romantic and has a thirst for adventure. Plus there were some characteristics in the characters that reflected the personalities of some of the people I know. But the most importaint clue was given to me by Chloe and April, who explained just _where_ and _when_ was the novel discovered. That made me 100 percent sure and it explains another thing. Chloe, if you please."said Chichi coming to her and holding out his hand.

Nodding, Chloe reached into her purse and pulled out the notebook. Chichi took it into his hand and moved across the table.

"The reason we started going trough Balthazar´s case was simple – the author was searching for inspiration, right _Lily_?"he said grinningly as he was handing her the Great Mystery novel.

A moment´s silence hung over the group before all eyes turned on Lily.

"LILY?"went across the table, everyone except Chichi was completly stunned.

"Y..._you_ wrote the Great Mystery?"breathed Phil, wide-eyed.

Chichi grinned.

"As detective Razor would say – bingo, bull´s eye, baby."he repeated the catchphrase of the novel´s main character.

"I´m guessing you had the book in your purse when that guy mugged you during the Soil renewal ritual and as I heared it tore sending its conents all around. Later on, Chloe found it lying there. You didn´t even notice it missing, since you were preoccupied with the Balthazar case – probably searching for inspiration to do a sequel book. Am I right, Lily?"he asked as Lily shakily took the novel from him.

"Chichi...you..."she breathed, trying to find words.

"And thanks to the girls, the entire Beauvillage Elementary read it."he added happily.

Lola could barely believe it.

"So that´s the secret you were keeping from me?"she asked quietly.

"Philips suggested the idea to me after reading some of the essays I wrote in school. I started writing it after the break-up with Leon during my summer in France, but I wasn´t sure how well I´d do... and now... the entire Elementary school read it...? I´ll **die** of embaressment!"she said, exclaiming the last sentance in panic.

"_Embaressment_? Lily, that was the coolest novel I´ve ever read."exclaimed Chloe looking at Lily as though she were mad.

"That´s true, Lily. Everything – the plot, the action and the amazing characters in there – it was completly _cool_."said April passionately and Emily besides her nodded fervently.

"Not to mention, that old Querelly was on cloud-nine when he read it. He practicly begged us to find the author."noted Miles, nodding to himself.

"Who?"asked Lily, Lola, Billy, Chichi and Phil simultaniously.

Miles grinned.

"Oh, just the head of Increedy Publishing."

A moment of silence endured.

"WHAT?!"

"_Increedy Publishing_?! That´s one of the country´s lead book publishers."exclaimed Lola, unable to believe that Miles could be on good terms with its director.

"And HE wants to publish it?"breathed Lily.

Miles gave a small laugh before he sat besides her, placed an arm over her shoulder in a godfather-like fashion.

"Flower-girl... the old man is giving you an offer that you can´t turn down. This is ultimate-greed we´re talking about."he said in a deep monotone voice.

This drew a few laughs from the group.

"He´s right, Lily. This is a chance of a life-time."nodded Chichi.

"I don´t know, guys... what if I´m not good enough?"murmured Lily shyly.

Suddenly she felt a gentle hand grabbing hers. Still with Miles´ arm over her shoulders she turned towards the one holding her hand.

"You won´t know unless you try, Lil. But I think that you do have the talent for this."said Phil earnestly, his chocolate brown eyes locking with hers.

For some reason, having Phil´s support meant the world to her and made it so much easier to decide.

"Allright. We´ll go to Mr Querelly. But when? I mean, I doubt he´ll be working on weekend. And tommorow´s Friday."

Chichi grinned his infamous grin.

"You, Phil and Miles can go tommorow. You have permission to skip school sighned by the mayor himself."

The table fixed Chichi with an amazed stare.

"I´ve struck several deals with the mayor as I went to inform him of everything."said Chichi proudly.

"The mayor knows the truth, then?"questioned Chloe in an amazed voice.

"Of course. When I was going to leave the brotherhood get all the praise, I was being kind, not stupid. I´ve made sure, that all of us at this table have something to gain from this. Within reason, of course."

The others were amazed by Chichi´s line of thinking. Except one person.

"Perfect, Chich! I see I´ve taught you well!"exclaimed Miles as he shook Chichi´s hand.

"CROOOOOOOOW"sounded across the yard as Cracker flew trough the air landing in April´s arms.

As they all spun their heads towards the place where Cracker flew, Curly and Suzie both ran towards them completly terrifyed, hiding beneath the table nearly knocking the table over and sending all of them to the ground.

"OOOOOOOUUUUUCHHHHH"yelled Pop.

"JAAAAAAKE!"roared Titus.

The prototype alarm was going haywire again, the mechanical arms thistime grabbing everything in its vicinity, throwing the objects across the yard. The two men were jumping up and down, trying with all their might to evade the mechanical hands.

"Oh no."breathed Billy.

"Not again."goaned Lola.

Chichi swiftly reached into the pocket of his jacket procuring a pair of screwdrivers.

"That´s it! I´m putting that thing out of comission _permanently_."he exclaimed before he ran to the aid of his father and their neighbour.

"Right behind you, Chich!"exclaimed Miles before running straight after him.

The others watched Chichi and Miles deal with the machine – Miles punching away the mechanical arms, buying Chichi time to approach the control and swiftly disassembling it, putting the machine out.

"Woah. What a combo."breathed Chloe.

"What a _hero_ my Chichi honey-bun is."sighed April.

Lily giggled to herself, looking at the pair affectionately.

"At least you can see, my _exact_ inspiration for the stories."

...

The next day, the schoolyard of Beauvillage Elementary was buzzing. Within morning the town was full of rumors about the solved Bunglewood case. The brotherhood was pestered for information, having gained a celebrity-leveled attention. Reporters of the local media as well as a few from other towns came to the schoolyard hoping to get an exclusive interview with the trio of the brotherhood.

"Please tell us, just how did you solve the case many detectives and law enforcement officers failed to solve for more than 20 years?"asked one of the numerous reporters, all cameras, microphones and voice recorders aimed at Nick, Tex and Archie – all of whom were standing besides eachother, arms folded, pride shining on their smug faces.

"That´s simple. We´re the _Brotherhood of the Wise_. We can solve _any_ case."said Tex as though it should be obvious to anyone.

"Yeah. Together with the greatest detective in history – Detective Frederick Wiseman, there´s no case we can´t solve."nodded Nick.

"No matter what lies in the path."added Archie, showing his clenched fist for emphasis.

A moment´s silence lingered, during which the reporters all looked at eachother.

"You three are merely 14. What promted Detective Wiseman to appoint you as his aids?"

The trio´s faces looked even more smug.

"It was merely a matter of time before someone recodnized our amazing talents."answered Nick, his nose high in the air.

"Detective Wiseman is a great man and he recodnizes true dedication."nodded Tex.

"Yeah. We´re detective Wiseman´s eyes and ears whenever he´s not around."said Archie crossing his arms, puffing his chest proudly.

"But surely its risky for teenagers to do such a job. There must be danger involved."voiced another reporter.

The trio laughed openly.

"No danger is too big to stop us."said Tex.

"One can overcome anything if he´s dedicated, observant ..."bragged Nick.

"Not to mention fearless."finished Archie.

Amist the number of classmates of all years stood Chloe, Emily and April. Chloe snorted to herself.

"_Fearless_. That´s a good one. They _fainted_ when they saw Bunglewood´s ghost, whereas Chichi and the others had a nice little conversation with him."she said quietly, fully aware of the entire story.

"Did you say something, Chloe?"asked Oliver, not hearing her even as he stood nearby with Liam, Maurice, Abbygail, Alice, Mia and Peter.

"Nothing."she said quickly, remembering the promise to the others not to breath a word.

Oliver eyed her for a moment, not believing it. Nevertheless he turned his head back towards the scene. Emily sighed to herself as she watched her boyfriend and his _brothers_ showing off in front of the cameras. She was happy for them, but really... they were going overboard. Big time...

April however looked around her.

"Where´s Chichi?"she asked looking around, still not finding him.

"He´s sitting on the stairs."reported Abbygail, pointing to the stairs where one Chichi Tofu was sitting.

His face sported a look of utmost horror, as he watched the entire scene.

"What´s wrong with him?"asked Liam in wonder.

"He doesn´t look that well."noted Peter as they all looked at him.

"D´you think he´s sick?"asked Alice in concern.

Mia snorted.

"You bet. Sick with envy. Now that the _soy-brain_ is no longer the centre of attention and the Brotherhood is finally getting the treatment they rightfully deserve."she said in a derisive voice before looking back at Nick, a look of pride on her smirking face.

April glared her, but quickly brushed it off – Chichi was the more pressing matter right now.

Turning on her heel, she quickly started to navigate her way towards the stairs.

"Oh, please. As though Chichi would need more attention, than he already has."noted Emily shaking her head.

"Maybe Mia has a point, Emily. I mean, Chichi never lost to Nick, Tex and Archie. Maybe being bested by them for once did come as a bit of a shock."said Oliver thoughtfully.

Chloe turned her head towards her best friend, giving him an icy glare.

"Believe _me_, that´s not it."she said before like April, she turned on her heel and started to walk after her, leaving the group – even Mia, stunned and Oliver sporting a hurt and bewildered look on his face.

"Chichi?"asked April tentacively as she reached him.

Chichi didn´t respond. Instead he still looked at the entire scene with horror, even as Chloe came up to them.

"Great Oneness... _what_ have I unleashed on this poor and unsuspecting world?"he murmured as the two girls sat next to him.

"You did the right thing, Chichi."said April quietly, trying to cheer him up.

"The way I see it right now... I´m really not so sure, April. I created a virtual _monster_, worse than _Mutare Vita_ could ever do..."he said quietly as Nick´s loud laugh rang over the schoolyard.

"April´s right, Chichi. You´ve made a lot of incredibly good things happen over the last few days and you have a number of people who are very gratefull to you. The mayor, his daughter, Mrs Longline, Lily and not to mention – _me_."she said earnestly ignoring for the moment the astonished look she was recieving from Oliver, who was unable to believe where she was sitting presently.

Sighing to himself, Chichi smiled slightly as he got up.

"You´re right, girls."

As he got up he noticed someone in the window above them, overlooking the scene. Mrs Starchy was staring at the entire scene, a look of unspeakable anger on her face as she was gripping the side of the window with such strength, Chichi was surprised the glass didn´t shatter.

"C´mon. Let´s get to the classroom sooner. I have a sneaky suspotion, that ol´Starchy won´t be in a very good mood today."

Swiftly passing Starchy on the way to their classroom, they made it without any incident. Perhaps because Starchy was so angry she didn´t even notice them pass her.

"I´ve been meaning to give something to you, April."said Chichi as he reached for his schoolbag.

Yesterday he resolved to do this, eversince she healed him in the catacombs. Even more so, as he watched her patch up Pop and Titus following the alarm prototype incident, nursing their numerous cuts and bruises the machine caused, even as the two men were promtly scolded by their significant others. He couldn´t remember Mom being so angry for a _really_ long time, even as she ordered him and Miles to dispose of the infernal machine, which they did so by bringing it into the Hidehole – Chichi still had a sneaky feeling he might have use for it. However as he opened the Chest of Secrets once more, wanting to inspect the Secreta Naturae book, he came across something which he really felt, that April deserved.

"What is it, Chichi?"asked April holding her breath.

Chichi´s face took on a grin.

"Close your eyes."

April smiled brightly before she did so. She heared Chichi rummaging in his backpack for something. Suddenly she felt him grab her hand gently and place something in her palm.

"Wow, April. It´s beautyfull."breathed Chloe as April opened her eyes.

She instantly breathed. In the palm of her hand was a beautyfull necklace with a purple gemstone, handmade she was sure – differently styled than the ones she saw. She didn´t have a doubt in her mind as to _who_ made it for her.

"Chichi..."she breathed.

He grinned at her.

"I´ve already read on how to create them. I thought you should have one for when you would want to attempt healing spells."he said gently.

"What craftsmenship."breathed Chloe examining it.

"I have Oscar´s yellow one."he indicated towards his shirt, underneath which he hid his necklace.

"But this one, I made myself."he said indicating proudly at the necklace in April´s hand, confirming the girls´ theory.

"CHICHI!"

Within a second, he was gripped in a powerfull bear-hug. April, her eyes sporting happy tears was hugging him so fiercely, he thought his ribs would break.

"A...April...you...you don´t have to try it out right _now_, you know."he breathed as he was desperately trying to catch his breath, April still refusing to let go of him.

Chloe watched the entire scene laughing happily.

...

Taking a deep breath, Lily scribbled her beautyfull signature on the contract.

"Magnificent, m´dear. With this we can start putting this into the work almost straight away."boomed an overjoyed Mr Querelly, brushing his fingers lovingly over the two notebooks on his table – the complete Great Mystery.

"Don´t forget our little deal, Querelly old chum."said Miles moving in front of him, hand outstreched.

"I haven´t forgotten, Miles m´boy."nodded Querelly good-naturedly.

Miles jumped and started to dance a sort-of-a happy dance while singing.

"_Money, money, money... give me money... gimme lots o´cash..._"

Querelly, Lily and Phil laughed happily at his antics. Querelly passed an envilope full of bills to Miles as he escorted them out of his office.

"Now, Lily m´dear... you´ll have the first copy as promised. I expect, that the thing should be complete by the end of the next week."

Phil and Lily looked shocked.

"That soon?"whispered Phil staring at the old man.

Querelly quirked a cunning smile.

"Of course. You see, I have a pretty capable team at my disposal. And as soon as Miles called, I informed them that this novel will have top priority. Also... you´ve told me, that the book preview was met with amazing interest, so I´ve struck a deal with Miles to ensure that the newly published book will find their way to the Beauvillage readers ASAP."

Phil and Lily cast a look on Miles who was jumping up and down, holding the envilope full of money like a 6 year old would hold his most precious toy.

"Also, Miles told me that you already have inspiration for a sequel."

Lily´s smile couldn´t possibly get any bigger.

"That I do, Mr Querelly. But that´s only because I have such amazing people by my side."she said casting an affectionate look on Phil, who returned it with a shy smile, cheeks burning deep red.

"Splendid! You´re on your best way to become the country´s top writer, Lily... You have incredible talent. Believe me, I´ve never been wrong yet."boomed Querelly happily.

Moments later the trio was descending to the bottom floor. The chubby woman at the information office fixed Miles with a death-glare, but didn´t say a word as they passed.

"I can´t believe, that you actually made Mr Querelly give Lily 70 percent of the total income."commented Phil casting Miles an awe-struck look.

"Heh. I know the dude, Phil. He´s interested in real art of writing, not in money. Ah, well...his loss. But anyway its not like the Increedy Publishing is not swimming in loot. Plus he did it also out of favour to me, since over the years I´ve helped him out quite a few times. Aaaaand he´s taken an instant liking to our talented flower-girl."

Lily´s face went scarlet at Miles´ praise, though Miles appeared not to notice.

"_Hocus...pocus... Ca-ca-ca- caramba_."

Miles swiftly reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell-phone.

"YO. Joey! Wassup, man? Haven´t heared from you in a while...yup...ah you know, the ussual – _business_, _greed_, _money_ and importaint life qualities and quantities... really?...yeah...YOU´RE KIDDING!...sure...dudes in Megacity will go down for this...yeah...no prob... right over there..."

Phil and Lily fixed him with a curious look as he ended the call, getting a feral grin.

"_Business_... _greed_... _calling_..._my_... _name_... _must_... _answer_..."

In a flash he turned towards them, his face sporting the normal smile.

"You guys won´t mind waiting for me here for 30 minutes? An extraordinary deal is just going down. Lots and lots o´cash."

Both teens shared a smiling look, before turning to him.

"Sure. No problem. Around here´s fine?"asked Lily.

Miles nodded.

"Be right back. But first – there´s a pile of greed with my name on it."he said before dashing at top speed into his van.

Starting the motor, he stepped instantly on the pedal and the car sped out of the parking lot, however it narrowly missed another car, which was going to park at the lot. Evading the blue van, the other car went up on the pavement in order to prevent the collision.

"Sheesh... drivers these days."said Miles shaking his head before he stepped on it once more and with a sharp turn and a ear-splitting tire squeal sped out of sight. A second later several car-horns were heared honking.

"I have to agree with Lola – Miles is a real demon of the roads."chuckled Phil, shaking his head.

"You can say that again."giggled Lily.

The two took their time, having a walk around the small park around the numerous buildings. Both of them agreed, that this tiny little park is nothing compared to the one in Beauvillage – their encounter with Balthazar kinda opened their eyes to certain things – their view of Beauvillage changing drasticly. Over their childhood, there were times when they wished that they would live in a more modern town, however right now they realized one thing – they wouldn´t trade Beauvillage for any town in the world. They made it toward the river, which was flowing trough Middletown. Sitting down, they overlooked the flowing waves of the river as they chatted and joked with eachother.

"...no, I mean it Phil. I can´t thank you and Chichi enough. You´re the greatest friends a girl could ever ask for."she said earnestly.

Phil flashed her a smile.

"You´re an incredible friend yourself. I never saw any girl showing so much bravery. At some points you were brave enough for the both of us."

Lily giggled and used one of her arms to encircle his head and the other to affectionately ruff his hair.

"Awww... my little chicken."

"Watch it, Lil. There´s no meadow here. Only water beneath us. So unless you want to take a swim..."he said good-naturedly making her giggle again.

"Fair enough."she grinned, releasing him.

They returned their sights on the water bellow. A long moment of pleasant silence endured. Suddenly Phil reached into his pocket.

"You know I´ve been thinking about something since yesterday. There´s something I want to give you."

Lily fixed him a curious look as he pulled out Balthazar´s green gemstone necklace.

"Phil..."she breathed, trying to find the right words.

Phil however shook his head, already knowing what she wanted to say.

"Look that encounter with Balthazar and my grandpa made me realize a few things. Finally I can put all of this behind me and... y´know move on. I remember what Balthazar told me – the ones who love us, always remain with us. In here..."he said pointing to his head.

"... and in here."he placed his palm over his heart.

"I don´t need a necklace for that. You seemed to be better in using it than I am. So take this as a gift from a friend."

Lily´s eyes softened in both affection and understanding as he passed her the necklace.

"One of my best friends, Phil. My _life-long_ best friends."she said, her voice full of emotion as she took the necklace into her hand.

Smilingly Phil returned his gaze towards the water. However, suddenly he felt Lily grab his shoulder and deliver a long loving kiss on his cheek – one that made him freeze, his expression dumbfounded as he felt the new set of feelings he was experiencing around her lately take hold of him – stronger than ever before.

...

Later that day a small ceremony was on in Beauvillage´s cemetary on the outskirts of the town. A large number of people came around – including most of the families, Rodney Philips along with his elderly parents, the Haveitalls, the zoo director Mr Beauely, Terrance Workalot who was leaning on his walking stick standing next to his son and daughter-in-law. And standing at the coffin, right between mayor Haveitall and his daughter Angela was old Mrs Longline, looking at the cofin with a mixture of saddness and loving affection. Also coming just in the nick of time were Matthew Conners along with his wife Natalie and son Phil. Catching sight of the familiar faces, they came to stop at the Rowan family. Marion Rowan grinned happily, moving a strain of her still briliant red hair behind her ear.

"A bit on the late side, little brother."

Phil´s father Matthew grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry, sis. We got a bit held up."

Natalie grabbed her husband´s arm and smiled at them.

"You know, the celebration and all. The mayor asked us to help with the decorations. It did a small upswing for our business. I can´t believe, that he gave the task specificly to us."

Phil did all he could to conceal the happy grin on his face. Chichi indeed thought of everything.

"_Within reason, he says. That´s a good one. Guess he really _did_ learn much under Miles´ tutleage._"

"A shame Benjy couldn´t come."said Matthew thinking of his elder brother as he looked at the coffin near the newly dug up grave, along with a magnificent headstone, that the mayor had personally ordered.

"Yeah. He really liked ol´Balthazar."nodded Marion, smiling a small smile as she recollected the memories.

"I called him, this morning in fact."added Matthew.

Natalie sighed to herself.

"I´ve never knew the man. But I understand that he was someone really importaint to you two."she said, eyeing her husband and sister-in-law.

Andrew Rowan – Marion´s husband nodded, even as he took off his glasses and started to clean them.

"He was a great man. A dear friend of our Dad´s."noted Marion sadly, looking at a different spot in the cemetary – where the grave of Philip Conners senior was standing.

"Shame we didn´t know him, right Phil?"whispered Steve to his little cousin.

Phil nodded, not daring to voice his opinion. Instead he looked at the very same spot before moving his gaze on the coffin in front of them, a gentle smile on his face.

"I´m surprised, that Phil is taking this so well. I mean he was attached to Dad in more ways than one."Marion whispered to Natalie, eyeing her her nephew.

"I´m surprised just as much. Though he said, that nothing in paticulare happened, I ´m not sure I believe it..."she noted, fixing his son with a suspitious stare.

"Hey, there´s Lily. Mom, can I be excused?"exclaimed Phil.

"I´m not sure, Philip. I´d rather you remain here. With your family."she said.

"Aww, come on dear. Phil, yes of course you can. Go right ahead."said his father swiftly.

Phil flashed him a thankfull grin before making out as swiftly as he could.

"Phil...wait... _Matthew_!"exclaimed Natalie, turning her glare on her husband who cringed a bit.

Marion and Andrew shared a small laugh, already used to Natalie´s strict personality as well as Matthew´s good-natured yet slightly mischievous nature – a trait his wife swiftly mellowed out even as they dated eachother.

Steve sighed to himself, scanning the crowd yet unable to find the one person he longed to see more than anyone.

"I wish Cherie was here."he murmured to himself, but not as quietly as he would wish to.

His mother noticed and placed an arm over his shoulders.

"Don´t worry, Stevie. One day, your resolve will surely bring fruit."she said ever so gently, smiling at her son, as he returned her with a gratefull smile of his own.

"I hope it does, Mom."he said as he eyed his little cousin making his way towards his long-time classmate.

Lily was standing there along with her parents as she heared a familiar voice call out her name.

"Phil... you guys made it afterall. I was afraid you won´t make it in time."she said affectionately as he stopped besides her.

"Wouldn´t miss it for the world."nodded Phil happily.

Alexander and Julia Robins also smiled happily at their daughter´s dear friend.

"I would really like to thank you two and young Chichi Tofu for bringing me the information about Bunglewood´s life. Me and Angela Haveitall had no idea how many things went down over the mayoring of Evan Ripgrab."smiled Alexander happily – the historian mode in full force.

Lily giggled.

"You named the era quite nicely. Bunglewood and his friends - The Green knights of Beauvillage."

Phil chuckled to himself.

"Suits them nicely. Seems like the poetic soul runs in the family, huh Lil?"he asked, wiggling his eyebrows mischievously.

Lily´s face took on a deep blush as her mother let out a happy laugh.

"Phil, I can´t thank you, Chichi and Miles enough. My daughter´s incredible talent was shown. All thanks to you."

Now it was Phil´s turn to blush.

"I think that the thanks should be reserved for April, Chloe and Emily. Afterall... they found the book. And made it famous."he replied shyly.

"By the way, where are the Tofus? I haven´t seen them anywhere."exclaimed Lily, looking around.

"There they are."exclaimed Alexander pointing to the cemetary gateway.

The Tofu family, dressed really eccentric in their white ceremonial gaulish robes were drawing curious looks along with Michael Miles and Bee. Several people grunted, snorted or made their distaste known, for being so oddly dressed in a funeral. The Tofus – Lola and Chichi included, took absolutely no note to any of the stares. Even April was wearing a similar robe and like Mom had a headband made out of flowers. In addition, both Chichi and April were wearing their gemstone necklaces – Chichi a yellow one and April the purple one he made for her. The Hubbubs along with Spocks who were walking behind them also didn´t. The mayor, Angela, Haveitall sneior, the Philips family and Mrs Longline however flashed them their most radiant smiles – knowing exactly why they were dressed like that. The Conners family excluding Natalie, who slapped her forehead in exaspiration and Steve who eyed them in obvious bewilderment, also did so.

"Wow, you guys made it."said Lily as they took their places besides the Robins.

"Of course."chirped Lola, who held Billy´s hand.

Lily giggled.

"You two make a beautyfull contrast."

It was true. Lola dressed in old style gaulish white and Billy in a jet-black tux.

Both of them laughed along.

"Doesn´t change the fact, that she looks amazing in it."replied Billy nonchalantly, eyeing his girlfriend as though he couldn´t get enough of what he was seeing.

Both girls giggled at that.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, dear."she said smugly.

"I have to say, you sure picked a nice set of clothing for the ceremony."nodded Alexander Robins, looking at Pop, Mom, Buba and Miles with a hint of appretiation.

"They´re traditional, afterall."nodded Pop gesturing to his robes.

Julia Robins also fixed her stare on the robes.

"Hand-made, I see. You really put some nice traditional work into this, Violet."she said appretiatively.

"Well we had to. Its the least we can do to honor the memory of a fellow comarade in arms in our neverending battle against pollution. A shame he died like that."said Mom, her eyes watering slightly at the sight of the coffin.

"Yeah. Luckily the case was finally solved by..."started Alexander but his voice was downed by a hysteric laughter coming from the cemetary gateway.

The brotherhood of the Wise made their appearance. Nick, Tex and Archie were now laughing openly at the sight of the Tofu´s ceremonial robes.

"What are those supposed to be?!"chortled Nick pointing on Chichi, who was standing next to April and was now shaking in anger.

"Aren´t you ashamed? Wearing that on a funeral?"asked Tex, folding his arms.

"Ha ha... what are those anyway, Chichi? Blankets went out of style centuries ago."boomed Archie, drawing several laughes from the crowd, while Emily slapped her forehead.

Chichi´s eyes blazed. THIS was IT! He´s had all that he could stand since morning. Turning around, a look of deadly fury on his face he made to walk after them. Suddenly a soft hand reached for his and gripped it tightly yet still gently. He turned his gaze to the person holding his hand and found himself staring into April´s pleading eyes.

"I know its hard for you, Chichi but please let it go."she pleaded.

"B...but April... I can´t stand this. Its too much... for anyone to bear. Them acting so smug after all we´ve done for them."whispered Chichi, his blood still boiling.

"I know. But we´re here for Balthazar. It wouldn´t be right if you were brawling on his funeral."she reasoned gently.

Chichi held her gaze for a moment. Then he let out a deep breath and turned back to her.

"You´re right."he nodded, drawing a sunny smile from April.

Suddenly the eldest of the Brotherhood approached them as people made way for him, glancing in awe.

"Hm... what do we have here? This is not the ussual attire for a funeral."said Wiseman looking from one Tofu to the other.

Chichi felt April squeeze his hand, in an effort to calm him as best she could.

"No but we´re _special_, Wisey. You know _that_."said Miles happily.

Wiseman snorted to himself.

"Of that, I have no doubt Miles. I wonder however, these blanket robes look big enough to hide something."

Without further ado, Wiseman grabbed the lower part of his robes and looked underneath. In a split second he let out a terrified scream and backed away several steps.

"Y...you´re not wearing _anything_ underneath those?!"

This made everyone at the cemetary look at the pair of them.

"MILES!"bellowed Lola in shock.

Miles looked sheepish.

"What? I thought that we agreed on going all traditional."he said scratching his head.

"Not THAT much!"retorted Lola in exasperation.

"FOR GOD´S SAKE, PUT SOME PANTS ON, MAN!"yelled Wiseman in equal shock, one hand on the top of his head and the other in front of his eyes.

The cemetary exploded in laughter, even old Mrs Longline was close to rolling in laughter.

April, still holding Chichi´s hand was getting a naughty idea. With a pervy look on her face, she used her other hand and reached for the bottom of Chichi´s robes. Chichi anticipating her actions, swiftly grabbed her other hand with his.

"Don´t even think about it, April. Unlike Miles, I´m not _all_ traditional."he said smirkingly, though with blushing cheeks, drawing the laughter of his family along with Robins, Conners, Spocks and Hubbubs.

Suddenly the mayor cleared his throat, getting everyone´s attention.

"Now that we had a few laughs, let´s get back to whay we´re all here."he said as the crowd calmed once more.

He, Mrs Longline and Angela stepped closer to the coffin.

"Finally, after 20 long years we can lay to his eternal rest a great man. Balthazar Bunglewood was a man, who gave everything to our small town, in the end paying the ultimate price for standing up against greed, cruelty and ambition of one man. One man, who would stop at nothing to achieve his ambitions at whatever cost. Its a horrible loss to our town, but Balthazar managed to give us so much before passing away. The zoo, the park, the numerous statues given to our town and most importaintly, the gift of faithfull friendship and guidance he gave to so many I see standing right in front of my eyes, including myself."

The girls´ eyes started to water at the mayor´s speech. Some of the crowd were crying shamelessly. For instance Matthew Conners, whom his wife comforted with surprising gentless, she rarely shown. Lily bowed her head, letting the tears flow, until she felt Phil grasping her hand, offering her a comforting smile. Returning it, she squeezed his hand back as the mayor continued.

"His dream was of a better future for Beauvillage and after 20 years I must say, that it has come true. For even if our town and its people still have a lot of growing up to do, the young ones of this town – which Balthazar always placed high hopes into are living up to it. I am talking about several of the youngsters present here."he said smiling gently at Chichi and the gang, but also at the brotherhood.

"While he himself had no family, he didn´t shy to treat others as such. I can tell that out of my own experience. And I am pleased to see, that this tradition as it were is returning to our town in an age, when its dissapearing."he said looking at the Tofus, Hubbubs, Spocks, Robins and Conners – all of which were standing pretty close to eachother.

"And also, I´d think Balthazar would be greatly pleased in knowing, that some of the other traditions he loved have also returned to our humble little town."he gestured to the white gaulish robes with his hands.

"But the greatest thing that pleases me, is that dispite conciderable effort Balthazar´s legacy wasn´t wiped out, instead survived and much like seeds brought forth new fruit for our village. In this legacy, Balthazar lives on. But also in the hearts of those, who were fortunate enough to know him."he said focusing his gaze on Matilda Longline, who returned a gentle smile.

"As all of us know, his poor spirit was wandering around here for 20 long years. However thanks to amazing youngsters who stopped at nothing to solve the mystery of his dissapearance, he has been freed from the past and could move on. Now...Balthazar Bunglewood... my dear old friend... you can finally... rest in peace."

Once the funeral servise was over, people payed their respects to the "Green Knight of Beauvillage" and also offered their condolences to the mayor, Philipses, Workalot senior and Mrs Longline, who exchanged a happy exchange with the Tofus, Lily, Phil, April and Miles. As the people were slowly going home in order to prepare for the event which was going to take place half an hour later, their anticipation already bright on most faces.

"Are you coming, Matilda?"asked Johnatan Haveitall as he turned to walk away.

They were now the only ones left on the cemetary.

"In a while, Johnatan. I would like to have a moment alone if you don´t mind."she replied, still looking at the fresh grave.

Mayor Haveitall smiled in a knowing way.

"Of course. I´ll see you at Town Hall?"

Matilda smiled and nodded. With a smile and nod of his own, he turned and left the cemetary. Matilda watched the grave for a few more moments, remembering Balthazar´s message Lily and Phil delivered. Reaching with her right aged hand, she patted the headstone in a loving manner.

"I can´t believe you still remember that old joke. But I´ll honor that wish of yours. One day, I´ll definitely join you, my love."she said affectionately.

Suddenly however, a small mischievous spark flashed in her old eyes.

"And when I _do_, my first order of business will be smacking you for that "old turtle" comment."

Turning on her heel, she made her way out of the cemetary. Strangely enough, she could´ve sworn she heared Balthazar´s happy chuckle ring in her ears.

...

"Today we are celebrating a number of things."called the mayor from the Town hall´s podium, overlooking the crowd of citizens.

"First of all, the miraculous harvest our town had. For that I want to thank our very own – Tofus and their soil renewal ritual."he said gesturing to the Tofu family – all back in their ussual attire.

The crowd boomed, clapping and cheering from the numerous stands which were set for the occasion.

"Next up, this celebration is also to celebrate the life of Balthazar Bunglewood and all that he´s done for our Beauvillage."

Another round of applause, but much like for the Tofus only half of the crowd cheered. The rest were sporting looks of resentment as in the previous case.

"And also... to celebrate the solving of one of our country´s most mysterious unsolved cases. As you all know, this case was solved by four amazing detectives."he said gesturing to the foursome near him and Angie on the stage.

"Ladies and gentlemen, my dear citizens I give you... the Brotherhood of the Wise."

Thistime the entire town hall square erupted into all-out cheering. Whistles, screams and other exclamations of joy rang all along the square. Only Chichi and the gang didn´t join in, even if all of the adults did.

"Under the tutelage of our very own Detective Wiseman these three boys – Nicolas Meanfull, Tex Workalot and Archibald Smartson..."he gestured to each and everyone of them.

"...are on their best way to become incredible detectives. For their amazing efforts, I acknowledge the Brotherhood of the Wise as the official law-enforcement group in Beauvillage. Dispite the fact, that the three boys are still under-age, they are now honorary members of the Beauvillage Police Force."

As the crowd cheered, Chichi and the gang were looking shocked.

"Hey! That wasn´t part of the deal!"exclaimed Chichi though no one outside their group heared him over the cheers.

"Mayor Haveitall strikes again."grumbled Lola, glaring the mayor.

They weren´t the only ones who were shocked. Under the stage stood the parents of the respective under-age trio.

"This is incredible! Oh, my dear son..."exclaimed Vera Meanfull – Nick´s mother joyfully, eyes welling up in tears of happiness for her child.

"Walden! Why wasn´t I informed of this?!"exclaimed Stacy Workalot, elbowing her husband with a death-glare.

"Ouch! How was I supposed to know?!"exclaimed Mr Workalot angerly.

"Maybe if you talked with your son, instead of being in work all the time..."she said crossing her arms.

"What about you?! Always on your art conventions and aerobics classes!"he retorted angerly.

"Mary Ann... you dragged me out all this way, for _this_? There´s a good show on the TV today and I´m missing it."whined Albert Smartson, scratching his head and peering at the stage bored out of his wits.

"Albert! You mean you´d rather watch some TV show instead of wittnessing your son´s success?"she asked gently.

Albert Smartson looked like he was thinking about it for a while.

"He can always tell me about it, when he comes home."

Suddenly he was smacked over the head pretty hard by his sister-in-law, who was looking hatefully on him and the stage.

"You call this a _success_, Mary Ann?! Instead of running around with that idiot detective, your son should be home studying so he can reach a decent education."she asked completly ignoring Albert´s whines.

Suddenly all stares were fixed on Wiseman, who approached the microphone on the stage, flashing a happy smile at Angie and the three boys as he passed them.

"Well I would like to thank my three incredible brothers for all their help. I could never have solved this case without them. And after consulting the mayor and making them official, I would like to officially present you..."he gestured to Angie, who bent down to pick something up.

Passing it to Wiseman, the pair went to each of the three boys.

"To make our brotherhood official, you have to look as such. You already have the sunglasses, but right now..."

He passed them something that made radiant smiles appear on their faces.

"Your detective coats and badges."

The crowd sprang into applause and cheers. The mayor stepped infront of the microphone once more.

"Now seeing as we have a lot to celebrate, let´s start..."

The crowd extremly eager to comply, did so and moments later music, laughs and other pleasant sounds were heared all across the square. The teenagers seemed to be enjoying themselfs as they danced on the stage. Lily, Lola, Billy, April and Chloe decided to join in the fun seeing no point to mope about the Brotherhood´s victory they engineered. Nick, Tex and Archie were talking to numerous people in there, clearly enjoying the attention they were getting. Chichi and Phil were exploring the numerous stands in there, but Miles had a speciality going on.

"Michael Miles, this wine is incredible."boomed mayor Haveitall as he took a sip of the Fruitshake Wine in Miles´ Wine Pub stand – something he allowed as a favour to him.

"Truly. Very sweet taste."nodded Angela also taking a sip.

"Of course, mayor. Afterall, this is super ultra mega special wine made in the holy lands of Tibet."nodded Miles.

"That explains the prices."murmured Mr Workalot, who was not able to resist taking a sip.

Indeed Miles did charge a bit more than normal prices, "within reason" as Chichi warned him.

"Humph. How did you get hold of it anyway."asked Wiseman suspitiously.

"Uh-oh."murmured Miles to himself fortunately no one heared him as the numerous people at the stand were eagerly waiting the answer.

"Well... you see... the monks make it and one businessman from Megacity has connection to the export company."

The crowd looked dumbfounded for a while.

"That´d explain it."murmured Wiseman, nodding to himself.

Hearing that the crowd accepted the story as truth. Miles grinned knowing he has the upper-hand.

"That´s why this wine is called Happy Monk. They drink this and well... they get happy."

At this explanation the crowd went "ahh" and at once started to line up to the stand. Chichi, Lola, Billy, Lily, Phil and April were overlooking the scene with humorous looks.

"Michael Miles strikes again."said Chichi and the rest of them shared a laugh.

As some of the people were moving away from the stand, one person appeared that stunned the mayor, Angie and Wiseman.

"Celebrating victory, I see."said the person in a stern voice.

A moment´s silence endured.

"PAPA!"exclaimed Wiseman as he stood up and went to embrace his father – detective George Wiseman.

However before he could do so, the tall man with short greying black hair, dressed in a black overcoat, a pair of identical trousers, a red tie and a pair of neatly shined black shoes, held up his hand and fixed his son with an icy glare.

"How many times must I tell you – NO hugs!"he said in a voice as tough as steel.

Wiseman stopped and backed away one step, his face sporting a hurt look.

"S...sorry, papa."he said in a quiet, almost child-like voice. One he used so many times over the course of his life, anyone would have a trouble to count.

George Wiseman sighed to himself.

"And STOP calling me that! Adress me "father" like the rest of your siblings."

"Hello, George. I haven´t seen you in a while."said the mayor, offering up his hand in a handshake, hoping to break the tension between the father and son.

"Good evening, Johnatan. And Angela... very nice to see you again."he said in a normal voice.

"Hi, uncle George."said Angie, doing a small wave.

Nodding at eachother, Chichi and the others moved closer to wittness what was about to happen.

"Looks like Wiseman is about to get the acceptance from his Dad."whispered Lily to Lola, Billy and April.

"The very reason why we left the credit to the brotherhood in the first place."nodded Chichi.

Though still mad at the brotherhood, he wanted to see if his machinations bore fruit.

"It has come to my attention, that the infamous single unsolved case of the Wiseman family has been solved."started George Wiseman, looking from his brother-in-law to his son.

Mayor Haveitall nodded.

"Indeed it has, George. Fred here has seen to that. He and his brotherhood."nodded the mayor, smiling at his nephew happily.

"Ah, yes. The brotherhood..."nodded George as he fixed a stare sideways, towards the place where Nick, Tex and Archie were standing with their parents engaged in conversation.

Looking his son in the eyes, he fixed him with a cold stare.

"And you think it´s right to bring children into such a thing, I suppose."he said and Wiseman cringed.

Recomposing himself, he cleared his throat.

"You see, pa...father, these boys are incredible help. They know the risks and are okay with them. Furthermore I will never do a thing to endanger them. Since they were involved in several cases until now, I felt that it would be Wiser, to give the boys guidance rather than let them do such things on their own. Furthermore they offered their help to me in the first place."said Wiseman remembering the first time he worked with the three during the drug case.

George Wiseman folded his arms apparently not moved by this explanation.

"So instead of punishing them for sticking their noses into police business, you accepted them as your aids."

Wiseman cringed again.

"He did a good thing, uncle. You can see the result."Angela swiftly defended her cousin.

"Perhaps. You mean to tell me Johnatan, that you had no hand in this? That my... _inexperienced_ son has somehow managed to solve the case my father tried repeatedly to solve to no avail?"asked George, narrowing his eyes finding the thing suspitious.

"I swear to you George, I had no part in the investigation. Fred and his three aids solved it on their own. I am very happy to have Fred here in Beauvillage and the town already views him as a great detective."explained the mayor in an earnest voice.

"Worthy of the Wiseman name."breathed Wiseman hopefully.

His father however narrowed his eyes and fixed him with a stern look.

"Not yet."

Wiseman gasped as though his father had slapped him. Turning his back to them, the elder Wiseman prepared to take his leave.

"I have spoken with Chief Sharkerly and he confirmed your claims. For the moment, I accept that you indeed did solve the case."he said and Wiseman was getting a hopefull look on his face.

"_However_... one solved case, no matter how big is not enough. You still have a long way to go, to live up to the family name."said George Wiseman as he began walking away.

"D...DAD, please..."exclaimed Wiseman as he held up his hand attempting to hold his father down and explain everything.

George stopped and turned his head over his shoulder to look upon his son one more time.

"Words are useless, Frederick. Let your _actions_ speak for you..."

Without another word, he left. Sitting down into his car, he drove out of Beauvillage.

The gang was shocked. Miles shook his head, Angie and the mayor let out a sad sigh as Wiseman collapsed into one of the four chairs and bowed his head, completly devastated.

His shoulders shook a bit.

"Freddie..."said Angie soothingly as she came to him.

However as she touched his shoulder, he held up his hand.

"No... Angie... please... leave me alone."he said quietly, not wanting to reveal the fact that he was crying.

Looking at her father, who nodded sadly Angie took her hand off his shoulder. Looking at her cousin´s form, she was torn between staying and going away. Finally deciding that it would be kinder to leave him alone for the moment, she and her father left, gently ushering the people away from the stand and Wiseman. Miles looked at Wiseman with a mixture of curiosity and pity. Suddenly Wiseman raised his head and met Miles´ eyes with his own tearfilled red ones.

"What are _you_ looking at?! Pour me a cup."

...

The party was on in full force. The teenagers, dancing the Green Dance on the stage finished yet another one, as the tune changed.

"Phew. I don´t think I can dance anymore."breathed Lola as she and Billy sat down at one of the numerous tables where people could sit.

Lily giggled to herself.

"You two seemed to be enjoying everything."she commented as Lola sat besides her.

"I´m surprised that you´re not enjoying the dance, Lily. Even Philips is dancing."said Lola pointing to the stage, where Philips was dancing with Angie.

Near them, were also Archie with Emily, looking kinda funny since Archie was way shorter than Emily – reaching up to her neck.

Lily shrugged.

"I just don´t feel like dancing. Besides, I don´t have a proper partner."

On Lily´s other side April sighed.

"I really wanted to dance with Chichi, but I can´t find him."

"He and Phil went over to the game stand to play some of the games. They were challenged by your other two classmates."said Lily, gesturing to the stand nearby.

There Chichi and Phil could be seen playing a volleyball kinda game, teamed up against Oliver and Liam.

Lola and April sighed.

"Figures. Don´t worry though, April. You´ll get him one of these days."offered Lola kindly.

April smiled, reaching for the gemstone necklace under her shirt.

"I know I will, Lola."

"Anyway, I really feel sorry for old Wisey."said Lily sadly.

The others nodded. They fixed their stare to Miles´ stand where Wiseman was still sitting.

"C´mon. Let´s go cheer him up."said April, looking at the older teens.

The others smiled and nodded. As they approached however, they stopped just in time to see Miles and Wiseman gulp down yet another glass of wine.

"C´moooon... cheer up, Wisey "hic" guysy. You´re big and grand and respected so stop moping "hic"."said Miles, waddling a bit on spot as he refilled their glasses again.

"Tat´s not d´ point. "hic" I really wanted m´ papa to respect me. "hic"."answered Wiseman slurring on his words, as he pressed another glass of wine to his lips along with Miles.

The teens were silent for a second. Then Lola slapped a hand on her forehead.

"Oh no... look at them. They´re completly drunk."she breathed.

April and Lily shared a giggle as Billy chuckled.

"Looks like Miles took over the task of "pick me up"."said Billy happily.

"I´m afraid, Billy... that we´re the ones who´ll be doing the picking up."said Lola sighing as they looked at the pair.

"I don´t know... "hic" why you´re so concerned over that. "hic" I mean I don´t give a damn about not having the respect of a family..."hic".said Miles as they downed another glass.

"But "hic" you´re a criminaaaalll..."hic"... and you´re an "hic" orphan too."answered Wiseman.

"Good "hic" point..."nodded Miles handing him another cup.

The others sighed as they left back towards their table.

"Nevertheless, looks like everyone else is having a good time."commented Lily looking around.

It was true. It seemed that the entire Beauvillage was there having a blast. Excusing herself from the others she was getting a familiar feeling. Sitting down at an empty table, she took her purse. Pulling out a completly new notebook she got from her mother following the return from Middletown. After a tearfull and joyous talk with her parents, Julia gave her the notebook. "To use it for a sequel you planned."

Looking at the celebration once more, she smiled to herself and opened the notebook. Remembering the amazing adventure she had with Phil and Chichi she picked up her pen.

"Let´s see... time for Detective Razor..."she murmured to herself as she bagan to write.

"_The Smalltown legend..._"

...

**A/N:** Aaaand that´s a wrap. :D Hoo boy, by far the longest story I´ve ever written. I´ve immensly enjoyed making the "history" of Beauvillage and making the numerous characters not introduced in the toon - like the parents of the Brainless wonders. Also since I began working on this episode I´ve been excited on "breathing life" to a character that was merely mentioned in the Tofus - Balthazar Bunglewood. Also I thought that "The treasure of Beauvillage River" episode deserves a sequel. Ultimately the story evolved into much more than I imagined or intended. Anyway, the next episode is already in the planning stages so not long after this... the gang will be back.

HK07


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